Govt. launches rental housing scheme for migrants; extends interest subsidy benefits under CLSS

New Delhi, May 14 (PTI): The Centre on Thursday announced the launch of a scheme to provide homes to migrant labour/urban poor at affordable rent, and extended the interest subsidy scheme for middle-income families till March 2021 to boost housing demand.

The extension of the CLSS (Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme) will benefit 2.5 lakh middle-income families during this fiscal year and will lead to an investment of over INR 70,000 crore in the housing sector, besides job creation.

Announcing the decisions, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said “the government will launch a new scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for migrant labour/urban poor to provide ease of living at an affordable rent.” Migrant labour and urban poor face challenges in getting houses at affordable rent, she said.

Under the scheme, government-funded housing in the cities will be converted into Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) under the PPP mode through concessionaires.

The new scheme will incentivise manufacturing units, industries, institutions, associations to develop such complexes on their private land and operate them. It will incentivise central and state government agencies to develop ARHCs.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will issue detailed guidelines on the initiative.

That apart, Sitharaman announced extension of CLSS up to March 2021.

The CLSS for the middle income group, having an annual income of INR 6-18 lakh, was operationalised from May 2017. The scheme was extended till March 2020 and has benefitted 3.3 lakh families so far.

“Government will extend the CLSS scheme up to March 2021. About 2.5 lakh middle income families will benefit during 2020-21,” the finance minister said.

This will lead to an investment of over INR 70,000 crore in the housing sector and create jobs.

“This will also help stimulate demand for steel, cement, transportation and other construction materials,” Sitharaman said.

Under this scheme, a home buyer can avail interest subsidy of up to INR 2.7 lakh. The scheme is run by the National Housing Bank (NHB) and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs).

The CLSS under PMAY makes the home loan affordable as the subsidy provided on the interest component reduces the outflow of the customer on the home loan.

The announcements came a day after the Centre said it will send advisories to real estate regulators to extend the completion timeline of projects registered under the RERA law by six months, by treating the Covid-19 as an act of God/force majeure.