BETTER CONNECTIVITY TO BOOST AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN GURGAON

AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN GURGAON

Driving along Gurgaon, the construction activities can be seen in full swing. While there are thousands of units allotted, many are still under construction. The acceptability and demand for affordable housing units is getting in place as the outskirts of this city are getting well connected. Gurgaon, being the corporate hub of Delhi NCR region, has huge population which is still increasing day by day. It is due to the presence of various multinational companies (MNCs) that more and more people are getting drawn towards the city. The city has been in news for its weaker transport system with perpetual traffic. The ample amount of residential and commercial projects in Gurugram are simply because of the rapid employmenet growth and evolving transition of its development. The rapid metro is, however, playing a crucial role for the people living and working between Cyber City and Golf Course Road. The proposal for the Phase 2 Rapid metro project had been flagged off 6 months ago and there is a good news for the people residing in Gurugram as the proposal is now being prepared for the Phase 3 which would provide connectivity from the Sikandarpur metro station to the Gurugram railway station.

“Metro connectivity can augment the sales of housing projects and as the Rapid Metro currently operates in areas located between Shankar Chowk and Golf Course Extension Road, passing through Cyber City and Golf Course Road, it has already been providing an ease to the commuters of Gurugram. We have most our projects based at Gurugram so, this news has come up as a good news for us and all the other developers who have been contributing to the real estate sector of Gurugram. The metro connectivity would definitely make the real estate investment in the city excellent. It’s now high old time for the prospected buyers and all those who are planning to buy an affordable house as they would also be getting an enhanced connectivity due to the upcoming Rapid metro projects” says Pradeep Aggarwal, Chairman, National Council on Affordable Housing, ASSOCHAM who is also the Co-founder & Chairman of Signature Global.

PRIVATE DEVELOPERS TAPPING LOW-COST HOUSING

India is widely piped to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2030, as the  government is giving a strong push to the affordable housing segment it seems clear that the segment would remain as the focal point for the emerging real estate industry. Recently, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India or CREDAI – had announced the launch of 375 affordable housing projects across the country with an investment commitment of Rs 70,000 crore. Also, as the affordable housing segment is getting infrastructure status, developers are working overtime to tweak existing projects and convert them into affordable housing projects. The rolling out of the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime from July 2017, a major differentiator between markets has been done away with. An integrated national market will help the real estate sector by way of a common indirect tax structure.

Also, there is a clear-cut statement by the experts that this segment is going to be the most established wing in the coming years. The states like Haryana that have appeared as more influential when it comes to affordable housing projects. With small-scale down payment it has become possible to book a home for the buyers. Also, the advent of RERA  is regaining  trust of investors for the developers and overall real estate sector. According to RERA, the  developers can now sell homes only on carpet area basis, unlike earlier times  when homes were  sold on super area basis, with loading varying from 25-40 per cent.  The newly enacted laws are going to benefit both the retail project s in Gurugram including the affordable housing ones.

“People  can enjoy the leverage of choosing a desired home as there are plenty of options available in the sector.  Going for a low-cost property is still a better option as compared to the rental living. For these reasons, communities should work to ensure that they go for the right property so that they are able to suffice their other financial needs as well” says Pradeep Aggarwal, Co-founder & Chairman, Signature Global.

GOVERNMENT BRINGS OUT GOOD NEWS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING

According to the latest reports, the government has approved construction of 112,083 more affordable homes under its flagship Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), with an investment of Rs 8,105 crore. The central assistance for the same will be Rs 1,681 crore. The total homes sanctioned under PMAY(Urban) has now gone up to 3,052,828. The approval was given in the 28th meeting of the central sanctioning and monitoring committee in its meeting held here on Wednesday. Haryana got 24,221 houses sanctioned in 28 cities and towns, with an investment of Rs 1,721 crore, followed by Maharashtra with 11,523 homes with an investment of Rs 860 crore, Kerala with 9,836 homes with an investment of Rs 295 crore and Mizoram with 3,270 houses with an investment of Rs 65 crore. Sources suggest that a total of 44,692 new homes have been approved to be built under the beneficiary led construction (BLC) component of PMAY (Urban), while enhancement of 1,857 homes in Haryana were sanctioned under BLC.

“It would be an ease-up for the first time home buyers as they would be getting ample opportunities to select the desired space for living. The rising demands on affordable housing in INDIA and the increasing interest of developers to invest in affordable housing projects mandate a clearer understanding and appreciation of the lifestyles and cultural values of the local society. We wish to contribute more to the enactment of this policy so that the motive of providing own houses to all gets accomplished” says Pradeep Aggarwal, Co-founder & Chairman of Signature Global who is also the Chairman, National Council on Affordable Housing, ASSOCHAM