State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, feels it's about time the definition of affordable housing was reviewed. This comes in the backdrop of a rise in home prices across major markets over the last few years.

CS Setty, Chairman of SBI also pointed to the rise in its average home loan size, behind the call to revise the definition.

In a report published by NITI Aayog in December 2025, units with a carpet area of 60 square meters in metro cities, with value not exceeding Rs 60 lakh, were considered affordable. For non-metropolitan areas, units with a carpet area of 90 square meters and value not exceeding Rs 45 lakh count as affordable housing.

"Our average ticket size has gone up, almost it is Rs 51 lakh now. It used to be around Rs 35-40 lakh a couple of years ago, which means that the composition of affordable homes and the definition of affordable homes is required to be changed now," said Setty. 

He was interacting with reporters following the state-owned lender's fourth quarter earnings. Setty said it was one of the recommendations made to the government as part of their conversations. 

"This is what we have been telling the government of India that there is a cost of housing going up. So the concept of affordable homes has to be changed," added Setty. 

On May 8, SBI reported a net profit of Rs 19,684 crore in the January-March quarter, up 5.6 per cent from a year ago profit of Rs 18,643 crore. Net interest income rose 4.1 per cent year-on-year to Rs 44,380 crore from Rs 42,618 crore. 

SBI reported a 13.66 per cent year-on-year growth in its home loans portfolio last fiscal. It had a market share of 28.1 per cent in home loans, SBI said, citing All Scheduled Commercial Banks data. 

Published on: May 8, 2026 9:52 PM IST