Budget 2024: Credai’s wish list for the FM includes tax sops for buyers, affordable housing incentives for builders.

Credai said its recommendations for Budget 2024 are aimed at sustaining housing demand through a slew of measures. Real estate developers body, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI), in its wish list for Budget 2024, has said that the government should consider allowing unlimited interest deductions for the first self-occupied property or increasing the deduction limit to ₹5 lakh from ₹2 lakh for homebuyers. For builders, it should offer incentives to construct affordable housing projects as well as streamline the approval process. “To stimulate homebuying, the finance ministry should consider allowing unlimited interest deductions for the first self-occupied property or increasing the deduction limit to ₹5 lakh to boost real estate investments and spur demand, benefiting the overall market,” Credai said in a statement. Streamline approval processes, and provide subsidies to developers constructing affordable housing projects. CREDAI has said that the government should revise the definition of affordable housing and suggest definitive direct taxation and financial incentives. The existing threshold for affordable housing, set at ₹45 lakh since 2017, has remained unchanged despite a significant 24% increase in housing prices in India since June 2018, as per data from the National Housing Bank. This underscores the urgent necessity for revision. Concurrently, inflationary impact and escalating costs of raw materials have deterred real estate developers from investing in affordable housing projects as providing quality homes at the current threshold limit is a challenge.  To address inflation and the soaring housing rates in both metro and non-metro cities, industry proponents advocate for revising the affordable housing threshold. This adjustment would align with current market dynamics, ensuring sufficient availability to meet present and future demand, Credai said in a statement. Credit Link Subsidy Scheme To optimize the effectiveness of the Credit Link Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), the government should consider augmenting allocated funds, streamlining application procedures, and intensifying awareness campaigns.