Nearly five decades of cooperative housing in Assam
Our history, mandate, and the structure through which we operate across the state.
A mission to give every family a wholesome house
As part of the cooperative housing movement in India, and with a mission to fulfil the desire of common citizens to own a wholesome house, HOUSEFED was established on 27th March 1978. It was registered as the Assam State Co-operative Housing Finance Society Ltd. under the Assam Co-operative Societies Act, 1949.
The name was subsequently changed to "Assam State Co-operative Housing Federation Ltd." on 22nd June 2005.
HOUSEFED, headquartered at Guwahati, functions under the administrative control of the Cooperation Department, Government of Assam, and is affiliated to the National Co-operative Housing Federation of India (NCHF), New Delhi — one of 26 state federations under that national body. Since starting operations in 1979–80, it has served as the apex institution for housing in the cooperative sector in the state.
Objectives
The mandate under which HOUSEFED finances, builds, and administers housing across Assam.
Finance & promote
Finance and promote affiliated Primary Housing Co-operative Societies and their members through housing loans.
Individual lending
Provide housing loans directly to individual members of the Federation for construction, purchase, or repair.
Land acquisition
Acquire and develop land for housing programmes and for construction of residential and commercial flats in the cooperative sector.
Government agency work
Undertake financing and allied housing activities, including construction, as an implementing agent of the Government.
Build & sell
Construction and sale of houses, flats, and residential, shopping, and office complexes.
Deposit works
Undertake deposit works for State/Central Government on nomination — Higher Education (RUSA), Cultural Affairs, Home & Political (MOITRI), Welfare of Minorities, Cooperation, Revenue & DM, and more.
Technical consultancy
Provide technical, engineering, and architectural consultancy services to affiliated bodies and government departments.
Low-cost housing
Plan and prepare estimates for the construction of low-cost houses for economically weaker sections.
Loan categories
Loans cover new construction, purchase of houses and flats, vertical/horizontal additions, house-site purchase, and repairs or renewals.
How HOUSEFED is organised
Five operating sections and six zonal offices carry out day-to-day work across the state.
- Operating sections
- General Administration, Loan, Recovery, Accounts, and Engineering. The Loan, Recovery, and Accounts sections are fully computerised.
- Zonal offices
- Six zonal offices under Housing Officers — at Guwahati, Tezpur, Nagaon, Barpeta, Jorhat, and Sivsagar — monitor field-level loan sanction and recovery.
- Leadership
- The Managing Director is HOUSEFED's Chief Executive Officer — a senior-grade Assam Civil Service officer on deputation — and Member Secretary of the Board. A full-time Secretary, deputed from the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, assists the MD.
- Governing framework
- The functioning of HOUSEFED, its Chairman, Managing Director, and Secretary is governed by its Bye-Law.
Resource mobilization
How HOUSEFED funds its housing and construction activity.
- Equity participation — share capital contribution and managerial subsidy from the Government of Assam, plus share contributions from Primary Housing Societies and individual members.
- Borrowings from financial institutions such as LICI and HUDCO, against mortgage of property or Government guarantee, for construction projects and cash loan schemes.
- House rent from rental buildings owned by HOUSEFED.
- Income from the sale of flats and commercial ventures.
- Interest earned on bank deposits.
- Service charges earned on deposit works undertaken for Central, State, and semi-government organisations.
Under the General Housing Scheme, loans are provided to applicant members of Primary Housing Societies — under Apex Society membership — for construction on their own mortgaged land. Capital for these loans was drawn from LICI and HUDCO; both facilities have since been fully liquidated. A portion of a defaulted Government-guarantee loan was cleared to HUDCO following a meeting on 10th December 2012, chaired by the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Assam.