Naredco pitches for incentives for affordable housing, rental homes

Realtors' body Naredco on Friday said the government should promote affordable home segment and provide incentives for development of rental accommodation to achieve Housing for All and boost growth of real estate sector. Addressing a real estate conference organised by the association, Naredco President Parveen Jain stressed the need to further strengthen the real estate law RERA. ''The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act has brought transparency and accountability in the Indian property market. Now there is a need to further strengthen the RERA law and ensure effective implementation across all states,'' Jain said. He emphasised Housing for All and said there is a need to promote affordable housing and easy access of finance for both builders and homebuyers. Jain said the government should incentivise rental housing. He also pitched for single-window clearance and timely approvals for real estate projects. Jain noted that the clear, stable and transparent policies help attract investments. Naredco Chairman Niranjan Hiranandani pointed out that the share of affordable housing in total sales volumes has gone down. ''We need to create rental housing. We cannot rely only on ownership,'' he said. Hiranandani said the development of affordable housing and rental homes is possible if the central and state governments provide policy incentives like reduction of various taxes. He also spoke about promoting green real estate development. Naredco has around 5,000 developers as members.