Budget 2020: What gifts home buyers got from FM Nirmala Sitharaman?
Budget 2020: The real estate sector had high hopes from Union Budget 2020. Both home buyers as well as developers had their wish-list ready ahead of the Union Budget, but didnt get too many gifts from the Finance Minister.
Budget 2020: The real estate sector had high hopes from Union Budget 2020. Both home buyers as well as developers had their wish-list ready ahead of the Union Budget, but didn't get too many gifts from the Finance Minister. The major demands included an immediate deployment of Rs 25,000 crore Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) and separation of principal repayment on housing loans to be separated from the overall limit of Rs 1.5 lakh under Section 80C.
What did home buyers get?
In its Budget insights document, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co explains that the deadline for approval of affordable housing project by the competent authority for claiming 100 per cent deduction has been increased by an year.
"The sunset date for approval of affordable housing project by the competent authority for claiming 100 per cent deduction by the developer is proposed to be extended from 31 March 2020 to 31 March 2021," it said. This comes as a relief for developers.
At the same time, the Bill also proposes to extend the date of sanctioning of loan for the acquisition of an affordable residential house property for the purpose of claiming deduction of interest on is proposed to be extended from 31 March 2020 to 31 March 2021.
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Was it enough?
Probably not, believe industry experts. While the government did make some major announcements, it also missed out on a few things. Lincoln Bennet Rodrigues, Founder and Chairman, Bennet & Bernard Group said that there was an urgent need to address the challenge of liquidity faced by the sector, especially after the NBFC crisis.
"The budget could also have revived the Input Tax Credit for housing sector to provide relief to developers and home buyers, where-in homes could have been made available at lower cost. Some of the other aspects that the government that could have been addressed in the budget are granting of industry status to the overall real estate sector and implementation of single window clearance," he said.
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