'Taxes, delays are hurdles in affordable housing'

Reduction in taxes and flexibility in approval process will provide affordable homes to the masses. If these two elements are addressed by the government, selling price of the homes will be reduced by at least 33%," said Lalitkumar Jain, President of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India, (Credai) and Chairman of Kumar Builders.

The Credai has prepared a comprehensive checklist of requirements of each department, like environment, traffic, garden and water and this list will be submitted to the Union minister of Urban Development, Kamal Nath, later this month. "If this list is approved by the government, a builder will get the approval within three weeks. Thus, we can control 25% cost of delay, thereby reducing flat prices. We have no control over the cost of land, material and labour, so at least lets control the cost of delay," added Jain. 

The members unanimously elected Satish Magar as the president of Credai, Maharashtra and Pune in the meeting. A decision to merge Credai, PCMC and Credai, Pune was made in the meeting. Thus, Credai, Pune has been renamed Credai, Pune Metropolitan Region (Credai, PMR). 

Kumar Builders Eyes $300m PE Funding in domestic and overseas market.: Total Real Estate Blog

Kumar Builders Eyes $300m PE Funding in domestic and overseas market.: Total Real Estate Blog

Builders' Proposal To Cut House Prices

The Conferderation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI) has come up with a proposal to reduce the cost of houses/apartments.  The cost can be brought down by atleast 10-20 per cent if the government expedites processing of appllications for real estate projects and gice permissions in three-four weeks, CREDAI national president Lalit Kumar Jain has said.

Lalit Kumar Jain

He wants the Central government to prepare a comprehensive checklist on building permissions to expedite construction activity and delivery of homes on schedule.  According to him, every developer has to obtain certain mandatory permissions, including building plans and environmental clearances from 40-odd departments.

"Due to lack of transparency and uniform guidelines, there is inordinate delay in getting clearances.  The gap between land purchase and commencement of construction stretches up to one-and-a-half years.  As our finances get stuck in a single project during the long processing period, our interest burden rises which in turn pushes up the cost, " said Lalit Kumar Jain.

At its national conference to be held in singapore on April 28, the CREDAI will submit a draft of the comprehensive checklist to Union minister for urban development Kamal Nath on single window clearance for provals throughtout the country, rationalisation of tax and moderation of stamp duty which vary from state to state.

CREDAI member developers feel that the single window clearances can be a boost to the real estate industry and also bring down the total cost.

According to CREDAI-AP chapter president C Sekhar Reddy, approvals for small and medium real estate projects were provided within six months in AP but it would take about a year for large-scale projects, "Thank-fully the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) created a green channel which proved beneficial in the case of small and medium scale projects.  But if there is a single window Authority, the applications for large-scale projects can also be processed within three-four weeks, "he said.