A friendly budget is always on the wish list of everyone. Across the industries the stakeholders, including the consumers, have more or less the same expectations with the Finance Minister to call it a friendly budget. But in the context of the Indian real estate a friendly budget for the sector does not necessarily mean a homebuyer friendly budget.
An outside view on the Indian real estate market may get confused with the fact that mismatch in delivery and performance is lesser in luxury projects than even affordable housing. Isn’t it a fact that buyers in low income housing are more price conscious and more concerned to check & cross check than those nouveau riche who have enough money to splurge?
Technology is a great enabler that is today helping to reduce the construction timelines, cost of construction & optimise land competence. Pre-cast construction methods such as Alu-form and Waffle Crete technology and new construction materials such as Autoclaved Aerated Lightweight Concrete Blocks, fly ash bricks and building blocks made of mud that has been stabilised with cement or lime are alternative technological advancements.
Contrary to the general perception that the eco system is getting tougher for the builders due to home buyers’ activism, vigilante media and judicial intervention, the facts suggest that the developers have been given too long ropes to cross the bridge over the buyers’ interests. As a matter of fact, there are many instances of amnesty to the developers in the last few years.
The industry body Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) has thus far failed to act against the erring builders. They had only been vocal with a resolve to suspend the members who have repeatedly gone back on promises to buyers.
During the CREDAI national convention few years back, a miffed real estate seemed to settle scores with the then Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath. Displaying stiff opposition to the proposed real estate regulator, the builders’ body went critique to say it is not actually a regulator bill, but builders’ harassment and public amusement bill.
Child friendly homes are ideally suited for parents planning families or those with young children. While this strategy may narrow the market somewhat for the developers since the target buyers is a small group, these homes are ideally suited to people wanting to rent homes as well since they provide a ready environment for the parents who have to deal with many challenges when moving to a new city.
What makes Mumbai a global real estate market to bet on? There are many USPs of the city property market to make it a global property market, like luxury landscape of the city; its positioning as a job market; social life of Mumbai; investment in the city; appreciation potential; and insulation against price crash. Mumbai is one of those markets that have also weathered the slowdown challenges without crash; not even New York, London or Dubai have this distinction.
ASSOCHAM has urged the Government, National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India to treat homebuyers in real estate projects at par, if not above banks in the pecking order, by providing a separate carve-out for those stuck in the incomplete construction, and any legal hurdle should be immediately removed, by a Presidential Ordinance, if need be.
What has also fuelled this inventory creation is the fact that the Centre recently gave infrastructure status to smaller homes. This will help builders get funds easily and also give them more time of five years from the current three years to complete the projects.