In view of the steady demand for affordable housing and the government's push to increase its supply has led to a near doubling of launches of housing projects in the first half of this fiscal as compared to the corresponding period a year-ago, Cushman & Wakefield, said in its recent report. The number of new launches in affordable housing has increased by nearly 100% in a year to 17,000 units across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad during this period. As a matter of fact, spurt in the launch of affordable segment can be attributed to a higher demand for this segment of housing in key cities. It is heartening to see that demand for this segment, which remained neglected for a very long time, is now being catered to, as this formed a very large segment of latent demand, MD, India, Cushman & Wakefield, Anshul Jain said, claiming that demand for affordable homes has grown after the government allowed first-time home buyers additional deduction while calculating tax liability. The move, part of the government's 'Housing for All by 2022' vision, gives first-time home-buyers additional deduction of Rs. 50,000 paid for loan amount for units costing less than Rs.35 lakh and for a house value of less than Rs.50 lakh.
