The annual union budget to be announced on February 29 is one of the most anticipated event as it impacts everyone’s lives be it an individual or a company. It has something to offer for everyone and hence, anxiety mounts with each day coming closer.

With latest status quo by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), all hopes of realty sector are now being pinned on the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley. Be it a home-buyer or a developer all are sitting with fingers crossed and a long list of expectations.

The budget has the ability to be the key to dream homes of many individuals who are either waiting for the right time or have just entered a professional life and are beaming with confidence to fulfil their dream of ‘Ek Ghar ho apna’.

The union budget has two ways of impacting this decision of an individual, one direct wherein he/she receives benefits that can immediately translate into increased cash flow to buy a home or indirect where in it impacts a developer and that translates into benefit for customer.

The direct benefits are increase in income tax slabs, increase in tax benefits limit which is currently capped at Rs 2 lakh, change in duties on consumer goods, change in service tax and sales tax, introduction or removal of general tax or cess, etc. These have direct bearing on net income of a household and thus impact the home purchasing decisions greatly.

Next, if we look at indirect benefits which are by way of positive measures for developer which can then be translated to a home-buyer then it would be change in construction timelines that bear direct impact on claiming tax benefit for home loan, a robust process for approvals ensuring timely project deliveries which impact home loan interest payment and in case of first home-buyers, extra rent payment, incentivising developers for building green so that home buyers do not have to pay premium and yet buy a sustainable home, implementation of GST, etc. All these make the property a little cheaper and protect overall home-buyers interest.

One also hopes for measures that have direct impact on property prices and liveability of any area. Improvement in connectivity and planned social and physical infrastructure of sub-urban or peripheral areas of the city are priority.

Past year did not offer much to a home-buyer who just kept waiting for the right opportunity and right time and now their patience and wait seems to be reaching a threshold. Any small incentive that the budget offers can work wonders to their lives and ease their home-buying decision making process.

Every individual sits with hopes of measures and announcements that can help her/him into soon holding a key to their dream homes and unlocking one of their primary goals of life.

Pratik K. Mehta, Managing Director, Unishire