About Sitara

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SEWA Grih Rin Limited (Sitara) provides affordable housing finance to the under-served low income households in urban and peri-urban locations.

Inception

Incorporated in 2011, SEWA Grih Rin Limited was envisaged as a means for the under-served households to access affordable and formal housing finance in urban & peri-urban locations. We learnt that low-income households held two facets of their life very close to their heart: they treasured the education of their children; and aspired to self-own a property, a home of their own.

SEWA Grih Rin Limited’s work is aimed at directly improving the quality of life of informally employed households, especially their women members, by creating a tangible financial asset in their name. We provide an affordable alternative to those households whose credit capacity falls behind the widening financing gap given the informal nature of their employment.

Why Affordable Housing

There is a documented shortage of 10-12 million housing units in urban India, with 96% of that shortage occurring in economically weaker segments. Additionally, 26-37 million urban households live in informal settlements that are inadequate to live in. Housing is also a driver for economic growth, especially for the poor – their homes often form the crux of their livelihood. Most of these urban poor households require a housing loan to purchase or improve their homes. However, they remain under-served as informal workers lack formal documentation of income and largely reside in informal settlements. Sitara caters to this segment of the population seeking housing finance, aiming to fulfil their desire to own a home.

Who Do We Cater To

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We have a specialised focus on serving the dominant pie of the Indian urban workforce:
the informal workers, especially the women.
Informal workers have continually dominated the Indian urban workforce and will continue to grow due to the rapid urbanisation of former rural/peri-urban locations. Our focus however, is on the most productive slice of the urban population- women workers. Women workers have increased exponentially over the past few years and their contribution to the urban workforce is growing rapidly.