The minister also released a guide book for an affordable rental housing scheme for migrants.
The country's real estate sector has been witnessing a prolonged slowdown prior to the Covid-19 pandemic due to liquidity issues and NBFC crisis. The pandemic only worsened matters as homebuyers turned cautious about their immediate spending plans. In a move to boost the moribund housing sector and in line with the government's target of Housing For All by 2022, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs launched 'CREDAI Awas App' and NAREDCO online portal 'HousingforAll.com' on July 31. The minister also released a guide book for an affordable rental housing scheme for migrants.
The CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India) Awaas App is a residential project discovery online platform that will help buyers to virtually explore projects from 220 cities across the country. The app lists all Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA)-approved projects of CREDAI developers.
The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 protects home purchasers as it mandates that a minimum 70 per cent of the buyers' money should be kept in a separate account and this can be allotted to the builders only for construction and land-related costs. Moreover, developers and builders cannot ask for more than 10 per cent of the property cost as advance payment.
The NAREDCO (National Real Estate Development Council) portal 'HousingForAll.Com' will help buyers to access the best priced inventory of builders. The buyers will be able to view complete listing details, including floor plans and room dimensions. The portal will only display RERA-registered projects and there will be third-party document verification for all the projects listed on the website. Home buyers will be able to book properties directly from the developers online at the best prices.
Mr Puri also released the knowledge pack of 'Affordable Rental Housing Complexes' (ARHCs) programme, which was recently launched to provide rental accommodation to the migrant and urban poor. The ARHCs scheme was launched under the aegis of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
