Industry hails Cabinet's 'Housing for All by 2022' mission

NEW DELHI: Hailing the Cabinet's decision of launching 'Housing for All by 2022' mission for providing affordable homes to the urban poor at low interest rates, the real estate industry terms the decison as a "milestone".

"This is a welcome step taken by the Union Government. This decision will work as a milestone in Indian housing sector. Every stakeholder of the industry would get benefited by this step," Industry body CREDAI NCR President Manoj Gaur said in a statement.

Gaur added that subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction, promotion of affordable housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy, all these steps will will be a boon for affordable and weaker section of the society.

Echoing the views, Tata Housing Managing Director and CEO Brotin Banerjee said: "The approval of Housing for All could be a precursor to introducing key reforms for the real estate sector. The scheme will lead to greater social inclusion and will be beneficial for the urban poor including the slum dwellers."

Banerjee added that the urban housing shortage to increase to more than three crore units by 2022, and it is a positive step towards fulfilling the dream of owning a house for every Indian.

The Cabinet today chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted the recommendations of an Inter-Ministerial Committee to increase interest subvention to 6.50 per cent on housing loans to beneficiaries belonging to economic weaker section (EWS) including slum-dwellers and low income groups (LIGs).

The Cabinet's decision would benefit urban poor by an amount of Rs 2.30 lakh each and as a result this the monthly EMI would come down to Rs 2,852 per month.

On the whole, central assistance in the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.30 lakh per beneficiary would be provided under different components of the National Urban Housing Mission in urban areas to build 2 crore new houses to meet the housing shortage, over the next seven years.