Budget 2017 - Considering that the welfare of the poor and middle class is the priority area of the government and the assembly elections manifestos of all the major political parties centre around housing and urban development, this year's budget is expected to give a major thrust on real estate housing & infrastructure.
The 2017-18 budget should be seen in the backdrop of a tough year for real estate and housing, with the problem of weak sales and high unsold inventory getting further precipitated by demonetisation. It's a matter of concern that the sale of housing units declined by 10 percent in the six month period ending September 2016.
This poses a major challenge to NDA government's flagship programme of 'Housing for All', as housing besides infrastructure, is a major booster to GDP especially in a slowdown economy and has a multiplier effect on allied sectors.
It's time to build on the foundation of structural and institutional reforms, addressing the vital issue of seamless implementation of key reforms like Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA), Smart Cities Mission, REITs (real estate investment trusts), GST and Bankruptcy Act and carry out the unfinished reform agenda of 'Ease of Doing Business and Single Window Clearance'.
As the government is rightly giving boost to affordable/low-cost housing for the success of its 'Housing for All' mission,the budget needs to come up with policy initiatives/incentives to give a fillip to affordable and low cost housing by way of direct benefits to home buyers, resulting in enhanced affordability.
In order to widen the scope of interest rebate on affordable housing,there's a need to enhance the 30 sq mtr area limit of houses, especially when the government has already broadened the scope of interest subsidy under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) by enhancing the loan eligibility limit from 6 lakh to 12 lakh by creating two additional loan slabs of 9 lakh and 12 lakh with interest subsidy of 4 percent and 3 percent respectively.(Read More)
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