Developers hail extension of Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme, say fence-sitters will now buy homes
A majority of developers on Thursday welcomed the extension of the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme that will give a boost to affordable housing and also benefit the middle income group.
A majority of developers on Thursday welcomed the extension of the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) with the infusion of Rs 70,000 crore that will give a boost to affordable housing and also benefit the middle income group.
Talking about the government’s move, Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said, “Today’s announcement has reemphasized on government’s agenda of promoting ‘Affordable Housing’ and ‘Housing for All’. The extension of CLSS for another year will help demand for the affordable housing sector to inch back as and when the economy starts to revive. This in turn will help the construction sector to restart operations at the earliest possible. However, for demand for housing to return, irrespective of the category, the economy must start growing at a stable rate providing individuals financial security.”
Avneesh Sood, Director, Eros Group, said, “The Rs 70,000-crore boost to the housing sector and middle-income groups through the extension of CLSS is a critically important move which eliminates the uncertainty which surrounded the timelines for constructing 50 million new housing units by 2022 through the PMAY, of which 30 million units are likely to be constructed in rural areas, and the rest in urban areas. The decision is another big step to lift sectors like steel, housing material, and construction sector that contributes to increased activity on the supply side.”
This initiative is expected to benefit the middle-income group in the form of new job creation and result in enhanced economic activity that would contribute to improvement in the demand side.
Developers also feel that this move will prompt many of the fence sitters to buy homes in the near future.
Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, Housing.com, Makaan.com and PropTiger.com, said, “The extension of the CLSS scheme by one year will prompt many of the fence sitters to buy homes at the earliest and thereby increase demand for affordable housing wherein industry has max unsold inventory across the country. This will also help sustain employment as real estate supports close to 200 allied industries. The proposed affordable rental housing under PPP is also a welcome step. This will help in effectively tackling any migrant labourers issues in the future.”
Developers say the CLSS extension till March 2021 will benefit a lot of lower and middle class families under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
“This scheme has already benefitted more than 3 lakh people. The extension of CLSS should see demand for another 2.5 lakh affordable homes. This will definitely increase the demand and hence is good news for the affordable segment. The present government has always shown its intention to provide Housing for All. In fact, the second announcement was also related to the weaker section of the society by entering into PPP to build rental housing complexes to solve the issues for migrant workers and urban poor. Both the steps will provide benefit to the allied industries too,” said Pradeep Aggarwal, Founder & Chairman, Signature Global and & Chairman – ASSOCHAM National Council on Real Estate, Housing and Urban Development.
Vikas Garg, JMD, MRG World, observed, “The focus of the government is on providing housing to everyone in the country. It has been communicated over the years through various steps that this government has taken, including giving industry status to affordable housing. The latest announcement by the FM in the wake of the pandemic also shows that it wants people to buy houses and this can be achieved by this announcement as fence sitters too will come and buy.”
The announcement of Affordable Rental Housing Scheme for migrant workers and urban poor was also hailed was some developers, who said that the affordable rental scheme is a step towards addressing the issue of housing of urban poor and migrant workers and will provide them with access to quality accommodation and security.
Uddhav Poddar, MD, Bhumika Group, said, “The announcement by the Hon’ble Finance Minister of a scheme for affordable rental housing for migrant workers by converting government-funded housing in cities into Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) under the PPP mode through concessionaire is interesting and we look forward to more details of the same.”