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State-run house building financier urged the government to convert it into a bank so that the corporation can contribute more while averting fund crisis.
The transformation is required for the development of the housing finance sector, the head of the corporation said on Thursday.
"Such a change is necessary. We request the government to create more space for us so that we can ensure people's right to housing," said chairman of the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC) Md. Salim Uddin.
He came up with the proposal while speaking at a two-day BHBFC managers' conference-2018 as the special guest.
The conference being held in the city's CIRDAP auditorium ends today (Friday).
Managing director of the corporation Debasish Chakrabarty echoed, saying this should be implemented considering the sector's demand.
The chairman also proposed adopting green housing at the corporation and urged the finance ministry to make connections between the corporation and the Bangladesh Bank's green banking.
He also requested the corporation's managers to be vigilant against corruption.
Secretary of financial institutions division of Finance Ministry Ashadul Islam addressed the conference as the chief guest.
The BHBFC official will have to take more initiatives to erase the people's fear towards BHBFC, said
Ashadul Islam said the corporation should work towards removing the fear about loan repayment among the public.
"People are afraid of taking out loans from BHBFC, fearing whether they will able to pay off loans or get trapped in debt," Mr Islam said.
He placed importance on changing the attitude of the BHBFC officials towards loan-seekers so that they are not discouraged from seeking house financing loan from the corporation.
He also underlined the need for better customer service and training of BHBFC officials at home and abroad for capacity building.
He welcomed the adoption of digital technologies in the corporation in recent years.
He underscored the need for introducing a performance-based system to evaluate employees' performance to get promotion.
Debasish Chakrabarty identified fund crisis as the main roadblock to its operations, and said the conversion into a bank will help mitigate the crisis.
Mr Chakrabarty also highlighted some of the initiatives he has taken during his tenure to make the state-run house financing agency more people-friendly.
He mentioned some initiatives, including interest rate, cut, introducing online services, opening data centre, adopting new loan policy and digital technologies.
Besides, the BHBFC and BUET are working together to innovate new construction method in order to provide zones-based better housing designs.
He said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed shortly with privately-owned Dutch Bangla Bank to provide online services to its loan recipients.
Regional managers of BHBFC from across the country are taking part in the two-day conference.
Later, eight employees were awarded for integrity.