Budget 2018: Cheers for affordable housing sector

Furthering the Budget 2017 impetus on Housing for All, the government has assigned infrastructure status to affordable housing projects in this year's budget. On Thursday, the Finance Minister announced that the government will set up an affordable housing fund under the National Housing Bank (NHB).

Housing for All by 2022 is one of Modi government’s favorite project which has set a target to deliver 1.2 crore houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The Finance Minister proposed to build 3.7 million homes in the urban areas in 2018-19 and 5.1 million homes in rural areas in Budget 2018.

According to the census data, of the 90 million residential units, 11 million units were vacant, which is about 12 per cent of the total urban housing stock. Thinking from an retail investor’s perspective, affordable apartments are easier and more profitable to sell or even let out, assuring decent return on investment.