India’s housing finance landscape is quietly undergoing a transformation. For millions of first-time and underserved homebuyers, owning a home is becoming more accessible, affordable, and transparent-driven by technology-led lenders such as Easy Home Finance Limited (EHFL).
By blending digital innovation with deep real-estate expertise, EHFL is simplifying what has traditionally been a complex and intimidating home-loan process. Manoj Yadav, Business Editor (Digital), spoke with Rohit Chokhani, Managing Director, Easy Home Finance, to understand what drives the company’s mission, how technology is reshaping home loans, and how EHFL plans to reach the next million borrowers across India.
What inspired you to focus Easy Home Finance on first-time and underserved homebuyers, and how do you define success in reaching the next million homeowners?
The motivation comes from India’s socio-economic realities. A very large part of our population remains underserved when it comes to housing finance. Around 99% of Indians earn below ₹3.5 lakh per year, which makes accessing formal home loans extremely difficult.
At the same time, India faces a shortage of nearly 22 lakh homes, largely among economically weaker and lower-income groups. Rising incomes in urban and semi-urban areas, along with the growth of nuclear families, are creating strong demand for housing. However, most banks and financial institutions focus on middle- and upper-income borrowers, leaving a large segment excluded.
EHFL’s mission is to serve this segment, which includes roughly 56 crore people and around 18 crore households. We focus on first-time buyers, aiming to create meaningful social and economic impact by enabling homeownership across India.
Easy Home Finance pioneered India’s first online mortgage experience. How has technology helped simplify the traditionally complex home-loan process?
Traditionally, getting a home loan in India has been a cumbersome experience—visiting banks, waiting weeks for approvals, submitting extensive paperwork, and making multiple follow-ups. For first-time buyers, especially those without a personal banker, this process can be intimidating.
Our goal at EHFL was to digitise the entire home-loan journey. Customers can apply online, upload documents digitally, and track their application at every step. We also allow potential borrowers to check their eligibility online before deciding to buy a home, addressing common worries around income levels, guarantors, and loan approval chances.
India’s digital adoption has accelerated rapidly—UPI payments, instant personal loans, and fintech apps are now mainstream. If unsecured loans can be processed digitally, we believed secured home loans could be too. Digitising the process empowers borrowers to manage their loans independently, making the experience faster, more transparent, and far less stressful.
How are neural networks and proprietary tools improving underwriting and risk management at EHFL?
Data-driven underwriting is central to our approach. Traditionally, property valuation and assessment relied heavily on manual inspections and subjective judgement, which could vary from one assessor to another.
At EHFL, we leverage publicly available government data, mobile and digital footprints, and multiple datasets to automate property valuation and title verification. This gives borrowers greater confidence in the property they are purchasing.
On the credit side, we analyse income patterns, spending behaviour, and repayment histories to assess creditworthiness more accurately. This helps us serve customers who may not fit traditional credit models but are still reliable borrowers.
What challenges do financially excluded customers face, and how does Easy Home Finance address them?
Financially excluded borrowers often face income instability due to irregular earnings or unexpected expenses. To mitigate this risk, we bundle insurance products with home loans. If a borrower faces medical emergencies, accidents, or other unforeseen events, insurance helps protect both the borrower and their family.
Our products are designed specifically for India’s low-income population, focusing on security and convenience, not just cost reduction. Even interest rates are kept comparable to traditional lenders, ensuring affordability without compromising sustainability.
How does a paperless mortgage model reduce costs and improve transparency?
Earlier, the level of data accessibility we have today simply did not exist. With widespread mobile penetration and government data availability, we can now underwrite loans quickly, accurately, and transparently.
Digitising processes reduces operational costs, which allows us to pass savings on to customers. Transparency is equally important. In India, trust deficits in financial transactions are common due to hidden charges and unclear processes.
By digitising the entire loan lifecycle, customers can track every step of their application and see all associated costs upfront. This builds confidence and ensures borrowers feel secure and informed.
You emphasise combining technology with a human touch. How do you balance automation with personal support?
Even though we are a digital-first platform, we recognise the importance of human interaction—especially in India’s trust-sensitive market. Buying a home is a major life decision, and customers need reassurance.
We blend digital efficiency with guided human assistance, ensuring customers feel supported throughout the process. This hybrid model builds confidence, particularly among first-time homebuyers in underserved regions.
As an NHB-registered housing finance company, how important is regulatory compliance?
Regulatory compliance is central to everything we do. We hold all required licenses from the National Housing Bank and align closely with RBI guidelines.
Compliance is not optional—it is integral to trust. Strict adherence ensures sustainable operations, protects customers, and assures lenders and partners that we operate ethically and transparently.
How is Easy Home Finance changing the broader housing finance ecosystem?
EHFL is creating a comprehensive marketplace where borrowers and developers can access housing finance quickly, transparently, and at lower costs. Unlike traditional lenders that focus only on borrowers, we consider all stakeholders—developers, customers, and partners.
By serving all participants in the ecosystem, we improve efficiency, trust, and collaboration. Ultimately, borrowers get easier access to loans, and the overall housing finance process becomes more streamlined.
What are your key priorities over the next five years?
Our immediate priority is expanding to 350 towns across India and serving at least one million borrowers over the next five years. Our long-term goal is to build a loan book of $10 billion.
We see enormous potential as the housing sector continues to grow faster than India’s GDP. EHFL aims to stay at the forefront of this growth, enabling affordable, transparent, and reliable home loans for first-time buyers.
What is EHFL’s ultimate vision?
Our vision is simple-to redefine homeownership in India. By combining technology, insurance protection, regulatory discipline, and a customer-first approach, we aim to make homeownership convenient, safe, and accessible.
At a time when owning a home remains a distant dream for millions, Easy Home Finance is quietly revolutionising mortgage lending—bridging the gap between aspiration and affordability across India.
