Govt fund will help complete up to 2.5 lakh housing units: Anarock.

The ₹20,000-crore fund created by the government for affordable housing may help in completion of up to just 2.5 lakh housing units across seven major cities, property consultant Anarock said recently.

Last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government will set up a special window to provide last-mile funding for housing projects which are non-NPAs and non-NCLT in the affordable and middle-income category.

The Centre will contribute ₹10,000 crore to the fund, and roughly the same amount will come from outside investors. The government has said that this fund will help complete an estimated 3.5 lakh units.

“After considering these caveats, nearly 2.5 lakh units can get relief from the government’s aid in the top seven cities alone. However, since data for projects under NPAs (non-performing assets) is not available, there could be a further dip in these numbers,” Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri said in a statement. The seven cities are the four metros, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune.

Puri hailed the move to create the stressed asset fund, but said there was a need to change the government’s definition of ‘affordable’ housing.

“As it stands today, the government labels a metro-based house as affordable if it measures 60 sq mt or less in carpet area and is priced within ₹45 lakh. This price tag is far too low in cities such as Delhi-NCR and Mumbai. Moreover, the price definition of mid-segment homes is also not clear,” he added.

Anarock said a total of 4 lakh units in projects launched in 2013 or before are stuck or delayed across various segments, excluding NCLT projects. Of this, only those that fall under the affordable or mid categories — 2.5 lakh units — can legitimately make use of the government’s new provisions.

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