Ahead of Budget 2018-19, National Real Estate Development Council (Naredco) on Wednesday suggested that the government should strive to increase the supply of residential properties and the purchasing power of home buyers to achieve the target of Housing for All by 2022.

It submitted the pre-budget memorandum with various suggestions and recommendations.

‘Win-win proposals’

“We have carefully spelt out our demands and suggestions pertaining to the sector for the upcoming budget. We not only want the sector to grow but also want the home buyers to benefit. All of this should happen along with an increase in government revenue from the sector. Our suggestions, if accepted, will be a win-win situation for all the stakeholders,” said Naredco Chairman Rajeev Talwar.

Industry status

“Industry status is something which is long overdue to the sector. The government should help developers in getting better access to funds and also incentivise homebuyers to create demand for the sector, which is facing a lot of challenges,” he added.

For some time, Naredco has been demanding to bring house construction in 12 per cent GST rate from 18 per cent now with 50 per cent abatement for land from the prevailing 33 per cent. The step will bring tax rate at the level of around 6 per cent of the property cost.

‘Harsh regulations’

“Regulatory requirements are at times very harsh for the sector and affect the pace of growth,” said Naredco Vice-Chairman Parveen Jain.

“We want government to make them realistic and in sync with genuine business expectations. Also, the sector which is facing challenges needs government’s help to tide over the paucity of funds and flexibility in use of the funds. We hope the Budget will address our concerns in this regard,” Jain added.

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