Aavas Financiers and IFC mark history in housing finance space with its Pilot Project - EDGE Green Self-Built Homes

In a collaborative initiative, Aavas Financiers Limited ("Aavas") and International Finance Corporation ("IFC") take pride in the successful EDGE certification of ten affordable Green Self Built Homes. This is the first ever pilot project by IFC and EDGE in collaboration with Aavas for self-built Green homes not just in India but at a global level, marking a significant turning point in the history of construction as well as affordable housing finance space. Aavas-IFC Green Housing Program is an unique initiative towards unlocking the potential of housing finance to bring environment friendly construction of individual homes to the mainstream infrastructure in India. The project demonstrates ambitious, scalable, and inclusive climate action. This joint initiative represents our commitment in finding practical solutions for supporting individual households and the construction community in their transition to green housing in India. Aavas sets a new standard for affordable housing financing by getting ten green homes certified by UK-based certifier Sintali through acquiring EDGE Green Building Certification in its pilot phase. Since its inception in October 2020, the project has undergone tremendous multifaceted innovation across different stages of the entire lifecycle of self-built home construction in developing countries like India. At the onset of the project, there was absence of global discussion, awareness, and green home value chain. When the duo began the project, awareness was less than 7%, and the willingness to construct a green home ranged from 50% to 70% - as per the market research of 551 customers in Jaipur and Indore for affordable housing finance in India. The Aavas-IFC Green Housing Program is operating at its best, with the goal of creating an ecosystem for environment friendly, affordable self-built homes through extensive community mobilization and capacity building. This project will help Aavas to conduct an exercise to establish a baseline for its low-income portfolios also, and develop business projections for providing affordable green housing finance for low-income communities. We both now aspire to scale up these green individual home certification across the lower and middle-income households of India, to create a replication impact by allowing financial institutions to promote access to affordable green housing and benefit lower and middle income borrowers. Sushil Kumar Agarwal, Founder and Managing Director of Aavas Financiers Ltd quotes, "Our Company is a proud execution partner in this unique initiative. We know that this is just the first of many future successes. I am confident that this endeavour will be path breaking, not only for housing finance and construction industry, but also in terms of better quality of life and sustainable future for coming generations." IFC quotes, "Our Organisation appreciates the joint teams for their tireless efforts and most importantly, the relentless leadership of Aavas that has made all the difference. Achieving first ever Pilot for IFC and EDGE for self-built homes at a global level is no small feat, and makes us all proud!"

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( With inputs from ANI )