NCR Realty Market Ready To Make A Comeback, Despite The Challenges

The National Capital Region real estate market, which has been witnessing a few challenges lately, also, poses a lot of potential to overcome them. One of the prime challenges of this real estate market is the population explosion or the influx of many in search of better job opportunities. This population is also looking for homes on sale or on rent, to live in the Delhi-NCR.

However, the region witnesses a continuous influx, its major commercial and residential hubs have already reached their saturation points. To cope with the rising masses, new avenues have to be created for their inhabitance, roads have to be decongested, better transport systems, less travel time for easy accessibility and the biggest of all, providing mass or affordable housing and upgrading the requisite infrastructure.

Affordable housing

A major relief to the challenge of lack of residential options is the coming of affordable housing in the Delhi-NCR which is also witnessing development under the Housing for All mission. The potential lies in the fact in identifying and analysing the unexplored territories of the Delhi-NCR, how they can be made easily accessible from all important locations, how mass housing, supporting infrastructure and requisite amenities can be provided in these zones.

The developers, who want to come up with affordable housing projects, say now that affordable housing has been allocated infrastructure status, many problems they were facing earlier will soon be sorted out. Infrastructure status brings a lot of associated advantages with it to the affordable housing in many respects. The private sector's interest has rekindled and soared tremendously in affordable housing since the time it got the infra-status. This is due to the fact that because of the associated advantages the infra-status brings with it making affordable housing all the more affordable, the demand for affordable housing is increasing manifold. Now, to make the supply for this increasing demand, building affordable housing seems to be a feasible option for the private players, too. This move can help reap good results and revive the real estate sector.

Another challenge in the way of affordable housing is the expensive land. At present, the demand for premium housing has fallen while demand for affordable housing is soaring. The potential of providing affordable housing shall be enhanced by executing Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The PPP policy for affordable housing will provide a major thrust in minimising the financial and capital investment risks involved in buying land. 

In view of high land cost, if a private developer is unable to come up with an affordable housing project, a PPP model can be effective. The land can be provided by the government and the developer is adequately remunerated. To achieve the target of 'Housing for All by 2022', it shall be difficult for the government to work in isolation, so by following the PPP model it will be easier and more feasible to achieve the mission by working in consonance with the private sector. This move shall definitely act as a catalyst for the vision and mission of 'Housing for All by 2022.' 

Infrastructure

For an area to develop, one of the key challenges is the provision of requisite infrastructure in terms of easy accessibility via congestion free road and a strong Metro network, proper drainage and sewerage system, water-supply system, electricity, proper garbage disposal system, provision of pollution-free green environment, landscaping etc. The Delhi-NCR region is facing tough challenges in all these matters, but, has great potential to smoothly transform obstacles into great opportunities.

Road & Metro connectivity 

The Delhi Metro, which already covers a large part of Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad, is soon going to become a more dense network. With coming of new lines, the Delhi Metro will move to more farther areas in the NCR. It is known that wherever the Metro network spreads, realty boom takes place. Easy accessibility is the basic criteria for any growth, development and the Metro provides the perfect fodder for the same.

The major arterial roads like the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway, the Northern & Southern peripheral roads, the national highways and the expansion of the Metro network coupled together are expected to give a major boost to all the unexplored areas of the region. The construction of the KMP Expressway has been going on for years but has still not been completed due to many obstacles and bottlenecks. The need of the hour is to hasten the construction and be thrown open for public use. Once operational, the expressway will prove to be a mega boon for the real estate, connectivity and all the related aspects.

Another major project, the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR), is on the verge of completion. Once operational, this project will give a boost to the areas around it, making them a real estate hotspot. The SPR is an important route that intersects with the Sohna Road at Badshapur coming from the Faridabad-Gurgaon Road, the Golf Course Extension Road and then meets the National Highway-8. It further merges with the Northern Peripheral Road (NPR) or the Dwarka Expressway. The SPR coupled with the NPR shall act like a ring road on the outer periphery of Gurgaon easing out the prevailing traffic snarls in the city.

The surrounding areas in the vicinity of the whole SPR in Gurgaon have become the major hub for buyers and investors because of well-developed infrastructure and all the major residential and commercial developments taking place in these areas. The rising demand along the SPR route is easily accessible from all directions, connecting important locations with less travel time and with proper infrastructure and all amenities available. 

It can be said that the route along the SPR provides easy accessibility to all the important locations of Gurgaon like the residential, office and commercial hubs from far off places like Faridabad as it is an excellent link with the Gurgaon-Sohna Road, the NH-8 and the NPR. The SPR inter-connects Faridabad, Gurgaon and Delhi, too. 

Impact of GST & RERA

The Real Estate (Regulatory & Development) Act, 2016, has taken into consideration the various issues and problems prevailing in the real estate sector. The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) set under the Law, addresses these issues diligently so that the ultimate buyers do not find themselves in the doldrums with unnecessary delay in projects and also bringing in more transparency and fairness in the deals and procedures.

The Act has many advantages that aim to improve the things for the better so that the homebuyers do not suffer in the process of home buying.

The basic concept of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is that it is one consolidated tax levied. Earlier in the multi-taxation system, different taxes were being levied at different stages and at different time periods. So GST has brought in more transparency and awareness for the buyers regarding the total price beforehand but the ground reality is that there are some problems also being faced regarding this by the various stakeholders which should be looked into and sorted out. 

On a positive note, whatever challenges whether major or minor being faced by the Delhi-NCR realty market, it has full potential to tackle these challenges if these are analysed diligently and sorted out with a target of set time-frame.

The opinion piece is written by Parveen Jain, President, National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) & CMD Tulip Infratech.