Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Hits and Misses of Budget 2015 for Real Estate Sector in India

Author: Sachin Gupta | Find me on Twitter

Leading up to 28th February 2015, Budged 2015 was the most talked about event among business circles. Real estate developers, housing finance companies, banks, consultants were banking on reforms to boost the real estate sector. Did the sector get its due? Or there still is uncertainty looming large? We find out:


  • Allocation of Rupees 14000 Crores (2015-16) for National Housing Mission:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken about housing for all by 2022. As per the recent figures, there is need to build about 2 crores houses in urban areas and 4 crores houses in rural areas. National Housing Mission will be prepared by ministries of rural and urban development. This mission will subsume existing housing schemes. 60 Lacs houses will be built yearly for next seven years in rural areas.



  • Tax benefits for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs):

Mr. Jaitley in his budget 2015 speech rationalized capital gains tax regime for the sponsors of newly-created business structure REITs. At the same time, the Budget also proposed that the rental income arising from real estate assets directly held by the REIT would be allowed to pass through and to be taxed in the hands of the unit holders of the REIT.

"I therefore propose to rationalize the capital gains regime for the sponsors exiting at the time of listing of the units of REITs and INViTs, subject to payment of Securities Transaction Tax (STT). The rental income of REITs from their own assets will have pass through facility," Mr. Jaitley said.


  • No incentives to affordable housing sector:

The real estate industry was expecting that government would grant infrastructure status to affordable housing sector; however, budget 2015 disappointed them on this count. With infrastructure status, the cost of borrowing would have decreased for developers as well as home seekers.


  • Hike in service tax:

The service tax has been hiked from 12.36% to 14%. In other words, the cost of home will now go up. With this hike, the property value will rise by 0.41% of the old property value (when service tax was 12.36%).


  • Introduction of Benami Transaction Bill:

Mr. Jaitley announced the introduction of Benami Transaction Bill in his speech. The whole idea behind this bill is to curb black money in the property market. Prohibition of acceptance of an amount of more than Rs 20,000 in cash for any property deals is also part of the bill. However, will this bill have any impact on the realty market? Some feel, while the intent of government is good, but this may result in investors exiting the market.


  • Fiscal Prudence (Which means EMI may start to come down soon):

While the budget 2015 was a dampener for most real estate stakeholders, however, they all looked at the surface and did not scratch it. Most important factor has been missed by all Pundits looking at the real estate sector. Mr. Jaitley’s focus on fiscal consolidation will go down well with RBI. What it means? Well, the interest rates may start to come down soon. A reduction in interest rate will be good news for home loan consumers and those planning to take a loan to buy houses and cars. Sector revival is expected once interest rates begin to come down.



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