Praneeta Prakash 
[Photo: File]
The Fiji Development Bank has introduced an affordable housing loan facility aimed at helping people in rural communities finance their homes.
FDB Chief Financial Officer, Saiyad Hussain says the facility was launched within the past six months and has received a positive response.
He says bank made encouraging progress in providing housing finance to rural communities over the past six to eight months.
“We have just recently, last six months, we have launched our housing loan facility.It’s only for, it’s kind of affordable housing for our rural sector, and we, over the last six to eight months, we have done well in terms of the providing finance to this rural area.”
Public Accounts Committee member, Hem Chand sought clarification on whether farmers and other applicants occupying land under an agreement for lease could qualify for FDB loans.
FDB Acting Chief Relationship officer Ramesh Chand says that an agreement for lease does not specify the formal boundaries of the land, which can create challenges during the loan assessment process.
However, he stresses that it does not automatically reject applications simply because the applicant holds an agreement for lease.
He says such applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the type and viability of the proposed project.
Chand adds that an agreement for lease can be converted into a formal lease once the required land survey is completed.
He says FDB s prepared to accept and consider applications supported by an agreement for lease, including cases referred to the bank for further assessment.
