Affordable Housing Gets a Boost in Budget 2022
Real estate industry is one of those most affected sectors that witnessed halt in its growth post-pandemic. However, with some policy reforms in place, the real estate sector had high hopes from the Budget 2022. It is safe to say that though the hopes were belied as the budget didn’t do much for the sector but there was some good news coming from affordable housing segment.
Adhil Shetty, CEO, BankBazaar.com, said, “Affordable housing has always been the focus of the incumbent government. In the budget speech today, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the allocation of Rs 48,000 crore under PMAY urban and rural schemes. Around 80 lakh houses are expected to be completed by 2023 across the country”.
He added, “This announcement is expected to boost the affordable housing in the country and give a push to the real estate sector and developers who are building affordable homes. Single-window environmental approvals will also help to grow affordable housing more in the times to come,”.
Founder of Investors Clinic, Honeyy Katiyal, had similar views, “The Budget 2022 will boost the affordable segment in the housing sector. Allowing allocation of Rs 48,000 crore under PM housing plan and allocation of Rs 60,000 crore to cover 3.8 crore households for tap water will boost the affordable housing segment immensely. Also, the government’s focus on urban development will push employment in the urban cities and encourage the upcoming talent. With more employment, the spending capacities of households will increase, which in turn will boost the overall economy and with this we expect the housing market to further improve as the sector just needs positive sentiment,”.
Road Connectivity plays pivotal role in real estate. So, the budget came promising for road construction and likely to give a boost to real estate sector. Roads are expected to be built around 25,000 km of National Highways construction.
For some industry experts, Union Budget 2022-23 focuses on long-term growth for the country, with digitization, urban development, and sustainability being its core strengths.
Ramesh Nair, CEO, India & Managing Director, Market Development, Asia, Colliers says, “For the real estate sector, the budget placed an outlay of Rs 48,000 crores under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, and construction of 80 lakh homes will facilitate affordable housing. This, yet again, showcases the government’s commitment on building affordable housing stock. However, we would have liked if there was more push on the demand side, such as extension & expansion of the credit linked subsidy scheme,”.
He further added, “We also look forward to the announcement on the replacement of the Special Economic Zone Act with a new legislation. This has the potential to make export-led parks attractive for investments. The new benefits will also trickle down to technology companies who export services and have a positive bearing on commercial office real estate,”.