The government has been pushing the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna to provide affordable housing to the lower and middle-class income earners in order to counter the problem of slums in cities, and at the same time work towards completing the objective of “Housing For All”.
The government plans to construct around twenty million houses by the year 2022 for poor people. It also plans to provide affordable housing to people under its Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS). If you are interested in availing this scheme, here are some tips which will get you up to speed.
- Eligibility
A family can be considered eligible for this scheme if the family consists of a husband, a wife, and children. An individual earner can be treated as a separate entity for the scheme if he does not have a house anywhere else in his name. A family who has gotten previous assistance from the government of India in housing terms cannot avail this scheme.
- Finance Options
The government has taken measures to make sure that people eligible for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna have options available financially to help them better approach the process of acquiring a house under the scheme.
The affordable housing finance sector is said to become a 6 trillion rupee market by 2022. Many National Housing Banks (NHB’s) are providing affordable housing loans to eligible people at cheap interest rates. This is done to boost the government scheme and make it a success.
- Developer Assistance
With the government backing the scheme of affordable housing, more and more real estate developers are expanding into the sector of affordable housing. With all the policies and financial assistance offered by the government, developers have started looking at affordable housing as a lucrative sector.
The government is taking measures to realize its Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna and make the objective “Housing for All” a reality by 2022. The government also announced an additional incentive of thirty-nine percent for affordable housing development for the cause.
- Challenges
Affordable housing is an initiative which can solve a lot of problems faced by lower earning people in the cities, provided it is realized. However, the scheme proposed by the government faces a huge challenge of space acquisition in urban areas. Without adequate land, the 20 million households by 2022 can never be achieved. Unless this challenge is overcome, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna cannot proceed smoothly.
- Advantages for Women Home Buyers
In order to empower women, the government has given the option for women to be the sole owners of houses. Also, women should be co-owners of the houses provided under this scheme. The government has further added incentives for women availing housing from this scheme by providing them lower interest rates on housing loans.
Hence, in this way, affordable housing can really prove to be a boon for people with lower incomes, and with the government taking immense measures to try and push the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, this dream may soon be realized.
