Increasing carpet area under PMAY will help middle income buyers: Realtors

Cabinet today approved the enhancement of the carpet area of houses for the middle-income buyers under PMAY-U

Realtors' body CREDAI and NAREDCO on Thursday hailed the government's decision to hike carpet area of houses eligible for interest subsidy under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban, saying the move would help middle-income buyers and help the sector in clearing unsold homes.

NAREDCO's Chairman Rajeev Talwar and President Niranjan Hiranandani said this decision would help in meeting the aspiration of millions of MIG (middle income group) home buyers.

"This decision of the government, besides helping in clearing unsold stock, will also encourage developers to launch new projects and boost the economy, GDP growth and employment," they said, adding that the move would now bring the entire demand for affordable housing under the interest subvention scheme.

CREDAI's President Jaxay Shah said: "Housing for All by 2022 has taken a huge leap forward by the increase in the unit size of MIG Houses under Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme."

"The average middle class in smaller towns and cities would now be able to afford bigger and better quality homes than before," Shah added.

The Cabinet today approved the enhancement of the carpet area of houses for the middle-income group (MIG) category under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U).

Under the MIG-I category, the carpet area of the houses has been enhanced from 90 square meter to 120 square meter, while under the MIG-II segment, it has been increased to 150 square meter from the current 110 square meter.

Under the MIG-I category, a 4 percent interest subsidy is provided to the beneficiaries, whose annual income is between Rs 6-12 lakh, on a loan of up to Rs 9 lakh.

Similarly, under the MIG-II category, the beneficiaries with an annual income of Rs 12-18 lakh get an interest subsidy of three per cent on a loan of up to Rs 12 lakh.

Under the PMAY-U, the Centre aims to provide houses to all the urban poor by 2022. Currently, the shortage of houses is pegged at over 10 million in the urban areas.