Hi Shantanu & Rakshit,

At the same time Housing Minister Prakash Mehta recommended a decrease in FSI-TDR rates to make land available to developers in return for a specific percentage of free homes to the government, which could be sold at low prices to the poor classes.

Through this, the govt could eliminate its Rs.350000 crore financial debt pressure got from the past program.

Abhishke Karule, Mumbai

23rd April 2015

Comment

Hi Everybody,
The Maharashtra government will change rules and regulations to help in delivery of affordable housing projects for the millions of the state's poor. Making sure that the offered new housing policy would be "pro-people", Maharashtra CM Fadnavis told the developers to work together with the government in its mission to provide affordable housing for the lower-middle class and the poor people.

Shantanu Kumar, Mumbai

23rd April 2015

Comment

Right Shantanu,
As per the Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, state government would also emphasis on developing infrastructure and the 3000 km long state highways would be developed as national highways. FM asked the developers community to join hands with the government in building a new Maharashtra.

Rakshit, Mumbai

23rd April 2015

Hi Rakshit,
The news was came while the Maharashtra CM was speaking at a conference on "Vision Maharashtra - Housing For All by 2022" organized by National Real Estate Development Council.

As per the Maharashtra CM, they have taken this issue very seriously and are fully commited to apply it. Govt. will make the laws versatile and he am ready to face criticism

Shantanu Kumar, Mumbai

23rd April 2015

@Shantanu,
He also said that challenging laws and taxation must go to help the developers, but finally that should also result in affordable housing stocks.

But as per him, the new offered Development Control Rules for Mumbai would make sure that the optional powers of officials are decrease to the minimum for increased visibility.

Rakshit, Mumbai

23rd April 2015

Hello Abhishek,
A recent study carried out found that there are certain cities that still offer affordable housing. The study found that Bangalore was the most affordable residential market with about 77% under-construction projects falling below the price tag of Rs. 50 lakhs. Chennai was the second most affordable city in the country with about 75% projects falling below this price tag. Pune is another city that has emerged as one of the most sought after real estate destination with decent affordability. This is primarily due to its proximity to Mumbai and the demand spillover to nearby cities. Even tier 2 cities like Coimbatore, Kochi, Indore and Lucknow are gradually emerging as hot investment destinations. Soon a day will come when these tier 2 cities will give a tough competition with metro cities as far the real estate market is concerned.

Shrikant Kejriwal, Mumbai

5th March 2014

Comment

Hi Ashish,
It seems that as per a recent survey undertaken by a property portal almost 80% of the respondents have a budget of less than Rs. 70 lakhs for buying a house in India. While cities such as Mumbai and Delhi are not in a position to cater for affordable housing, there are few other cities one can look towards for buying houses within a limited budget.

Abhijit Thanki, Mumbai

5th March 2014

Comment

Yes Abhijit,
I agree with your point. India has an urban housing shortage of about 19 million units. While there are several housing projects available, they are beyond the reach of the common man. A wide gap exists between the demand and supply for housing. About 48% of buyers have the capacity to invest in a budget for less than Rs 40 lakhs for buying property. Another 32% of the participants can invest within the range of Rs.40 – Rs.70 lakhs and about 11% can invest more than Rs.70 lakhs but less than Rs.1 crore. Only 9% are capable of investing more than Rs.1 crore in the real estate market in 2014. This explains that there is still a huge demand for affordable housing in the country.

Abhishke Karule, Mumbai

5th March 2014