Deadline eased for home loan subsidy: Middle-income group can avail interest subsidy till March 2019

The interest subsidy of up to Rs 2.60 lakh on home loans under the Centre's affordable housing scheme will now be available to middle-income group beneficiaries for another 15 months till March 2019, a top official said here.

Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said on Friday the decision will provide more time for the middleincome group to avail the interest subsidy under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). Mishra was addressing the real estate and infrastructure investors summit organized by National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), the apex industry body for the real estate sector.

On December 31 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the credit linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) under PMAY (Urban) will be applicable to middle-income groups till the end of December this year. The deadline has now been extended for another 15 till March 2019.

Under CLSS, MIG beneficiaries with annual income of above Rs 6 lakh but not exceeding Rs 12 lakh are eligible for an interest subsidy of four per cent on a 20-year loan component of Rs 9 lakh.

Those with an annual income above Rs 12 lakh and up to Rs 18 lakh are eligible for an interest subsidy of three per cent. Reiterating the government's commitment to meet the 'housing for all' target in urban areas by 2022, Mishra urged the private sector to invest in affordable housing as it is being promoted by the government in a big way with several incentives and concessions.

Mishra later had an hour-long discussion with a 30- member delegation of NAREDCO and assured them that the government would look into various issues raised by them in all sincerity and possible interventions would be considered, it added.

The delegation referred to what they consider as anomalies in GST rates for completed and under construction housing projects, stamp duties being higher and kept outside the purview of GST, scarcity of land, delays in granting construction permits among other issues, according to a press statement.

The delegation expressed concern over the GST and other taxes accounting for over onethird of the cost of residential properties, the statement said. The affordable housing segment is expected to be the next big growth driver of the real estate sector which has hit a slowdown due to the crisis of confidence in builders who have inordinately delayed handing over of homes despite taking full payments from customers.