Couple's hunt for dream house just saw a ray of hope

This Union Budget has many positives for prospective middle-class home buyers, like Sandeep Katti, an advocate.
Sandeep Katti, an advocate. Katti and his wife have been house hunting.(Vinod Kumar T  | EPS)
Sandeep Katti, an advocate. Katti and his wife have been house hunting.(Vinod Kumar T | EPS)

This Union Budget has many positives for prospective middle-class home buyers, like Sandeep Katti, an advocate. Katti and his wife have been house hunting for the past one year, but are yet to find a property they can afford.

The most interesting takeaway of the budget is that capital gains in a joint development agreement would be taxed only after the completion of a project. “This is good news as it could reduce real estate prices and ease the process of purchasing property for a prospective buyer like me,” says Katti.
Decrease in the lending rates by banks and other financial institutions is a big boost. Also, the interest subvention scheme announced by the Prime Minister on December 31 has been carried forward. This is expected to further bring down interest for housing loans. Granting infrastructure status to affordable housing sector is another welcome move. One can now look at affordable housing schemes. It will incentivise real estate developers to focus on affordable housing. There is no doubt that the infrastructure status will help developers access capital at lower costs. “This is a win-win for both sellers and buyers like me,” says Katti.

However, there were a few disappointments. The government did not impose a penalty on builders in case of delay in delivery of apartments. “I was hoping they will set up a regulatory body to look into cases of fraud by builders,” he adds. Another highlight of the Budget is the proposal to construct one crore houses for the rural poor by 2019 for which `23,000 crore has been allocated under the Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana.

“The Budget is a balanced one. The finance minister clearly indicated that the government intends to uplift the poor and I feel they have been successful to a great extent,” Katti says.

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