Icici Home Launches Property Services Arms

ICICI Bank Home Loans has launched new arms to promote its property services targeting both the corporate and the retail markets. This service will help the bank to increase its fee income and enable it to sell new loans.

The new corporate services is known as ICICI Bank Property Services while the retail property services is known as ICICI Bank Home Search.

Says ICICI Bank Home Loans chief operating officer Rajiv Sabharwal, "The corporate services offers buying and selling of property, valuation services, rental securitisation and advisory services. It is a big market. The ICICI Home team is in touch with all the leading developers while the corporate team is in touch with the major corporates. We are looking at leveraging our relationships with the corporates."

 

The team offers advisory services to corporates who are interested in shifting their offices from one location to other or in consolidation of offices, etc.

ICICI Bank Property Services has also taken over properties in a couple of deals through the quasi-investment route. "Certain developers who had long term leases wanted to sell out. Depending on who the lessees were, we took over the property. Our risks are hedged as long term leases cover a substantial amount of the costs," he added.

The company is providing these services initially in all the major cities for the corporates. However, Sabharwal adds that it is dependent on the client need and if they want to go to smaller towns ICICI Home will provide these services.

On the retail side, it provides services in the top eight cities in the country. The bank charges one to two per cent as fees depending on the size of the deal. However, on the retail side the bank offers these services free of cost for new houses while it charges fees only on resale homes. "These services are being offered so as to push our retail loans," says Sabharwal.

On the resale side, the bank looks at the residual value of the property and gets into sale of property which is not less than 30 years old.