Budget fails to address major concerns of realty sector, say developers

New Delhi, Feb 1 () Real estate developers and property consultants expressed disappointment on the Budget for the next fiscal, saying it failed to address the huge liquidity concern of the sector and did not provide any major incentives to boost sluggish housing sales.

"The direction of the budget is progressive, however there are no sector-specific measures for the realty sector," CREDAI National Chairman Jaxay Shah said.

He welcomed the government's decisions to extend the tax benefit to boost demand and supply of affordable housing, but said the industry was eagerly waiting for the rental housing policy, one time roll over of developers' loan and the 45 lakh limit to be removed in affordable housing definition.

NAREDCO President Niranjan Hiranandani said: "The liquidity issue which is a major challenge for the economy in general and real estate in particular, here too one does not see any major relief."

Satish Magar, President, CREDAI National, said: "Budget 2020 has not been encouraging for the Indian real estate sector which needs immediate attention from the government. No sector specific measures were announced for real estate".

"As an industry we expected more bolder steps from the government to revive the ailing sector such as providing more liquidity for the sector, onetime restructuring of loans, and tax deductions on home loans to give impetus to buyer sentiment. Unfortunately none of these issues have been addressed, except providing tax holiday for one more year for to affordable housing developers and loan sanctioning- which was due for some time," he added.

Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri said the Budget misses on the 'quick fixes' the real estate sector needs urgently and focuses more on a long-term vision. "Apart from the affordable housing push and personal tax relief, no major benefits came in for resolving the current housing mess."

Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO - India, South East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE said: "Continuing its commitment for further strengthening the national infrastructure till the last mile, Finance Minister today presented a progressive budget and touched upon every section of the economy."

Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said that the Budget falls short of real estate sector's expectations.

"As far as the real estate sector is concerned, the industry was hoping that the Government would come up with measures to boost housing demand. However, the removal of exemptions under the new income tax regime, implying no tax benefit on principal and interest for home loans would be a dampener for the sector," he added.

Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, PropTiger and Housing.com, said: "In the 2020 budget the government has decided to help the common man by reducing the income tax burden on individuals. By doing this, the government will definitely help boost consumer sentiment which will give a big fillip to consumption."

Property consultant JLL India Country Head and CEO Anuj Puri said, "The Union Budget announcement today continues to focus on affordable housing and infrastructure, more specifically, urban infrastructure and logistics. However we do not see significant impact on the realty sector." MJH MJH MR MR