hand houseThe affordable houses in India are being built primarily by the private sector while guidelines are out for Credit -Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) for the EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) and also the low-income group schemes (LIG), as said by the Union Minister, M Venkaiah Naidu.

Builders should also make efforts to pay out the benefits received by the subsidies to potential customers. If a buyer is planning to buy a house under any of the schemes, then the builder is supposed to help the buyer in availing the subsidies.

The developers have also willingly agreed to help the buyers in the required support and cooperate with them regarding this. They will take the buyers to the bank, so that they can avail the subsidy. The main agenda to take this step is to protect their interest of selling their residential properties.  A subsidy for homebuyers will ultimately benefit them too in their marketing. Even the financial institutions and banks have also come forward to help in disbursing the subsidies.

An interest subsidy of Rs. 421 crore has been paid out by the National Housing Bank (NHB) under the CLSS for the LIG and EWS sections.

The guidelines which were launched recently by Naidu had the tenure of loan extended to 20 years from 15 years, applicable on all the loans sanctioned after 1st January 2017. This in turn has also increased the amount of subsidy to Rs.2.67 lakh from Rs.2.20 lakh. This is going to encourage the homebuyers to invest in the affordable housing segment.

Not only the LIG, but MIG will also benefit from the schemes as they are also significant contributors in the economy. A new interest subsidy scheme will be launched for the MIG which will categorize the borrowers in two segments, MIG 1 (annual income between Rs.6,00,001 and Rs.12,00,000) and MIG 2 (annual income between Rs.12,00,001 and Rs.18,00,000).

Initially, this scheme for MIG will be executed for one year but can be extended later, depending upon the response and performance.

Initiatives are also being taken by the Central Government to bring a reduction in the stamp duty, categorically for the affordable housing segment.