Budget 2019: Impetus to Affordable Housing
While the industry laid down a lot of expectations from the interim budget, for instance, aspects such as according Infrastructure status to the industry, and structured single-window clearance among others, which weren’t met, the budget in its entirety took into account a host of other issues aimed to propel the economy into a 10 trillion dollar economy, which is a positive sign.
The steps taken could percolate into direct & indirect benefits to the housing sector. The impetus on affordable housing was once again visible. I believe the proposal to extend Income Tax benefits for affordable housing schemes coupled with doubling NIL Income Tax slab from 2.5 to 5 lakhs will definitely be an impetus to the affordable housing sector. Also, exemption of tax on notional rent, on unsold inventories up to 2 years would provide relief to the Developers on the short term and help focus on newer projects.
