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‘Special Residential Zones’ For Low-Cost Housing
Posted by Pradeep Sadanapalli | May 18, 2008 | 800 views
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Low-cost housing is once again in fashion, thanks to the escalating prices of land, steel and cement. At the prevailing rates, it is well nigh impossible for middleincome families to buy land and build houses.
The real estate boom and availability of easy finance has left the middle-income and economically weaker sections untouched. It is believed that around 25 million houses are needed to house the low-income groups of the country. These factors have prompted builders to look for new options to provide low-cost housing.
They have come up with a novel idea of setting up special residential zones on the lines of special economic zones. An SRZ would also have tax benefits and singlewindow clearance like SEZs.
While the government will acquire land for the SRZ and provide road connectivity, builders will be responsible for construction.
SRZs could be set up in areas ranging from 500 acres to 1,500 acres and a housing unit would be constructed in a minimum of 1,000 sq ft area. Ideally, they should be set up in the city suburbs to cut down the cost of land acquisition.
“A house built in an SRZ away from the city may cost just Rs 8 lakh compared to the cost of around Rs 25 lakh for an average house,” said Mr A.R.P.Raman, vice president of the Alliance Group.
The low price of land, tax exemption of up to 27 per cent, and faster clearance through single window system help in cutting costs, he added. At present, securing all clearances from the government for a housing project takes around two years.
Several prominent builders have already mooted the SEZ concept to the Centre, but the latter is yet to take decision.
Officials of union commerce ministry have initiated talks with real estate developers over this.
The government is amenable to this idea but wants to impose strict norms to ensure that houses built in Special Residential Zones reach the eligible groups and are not filched away by others.
SOURCES:
Deccan Chronicle
Topics: Property Matters, Dream Home, Latest Trends, Real Estate |
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