The Maharashtra housing authority on March 8 put on sale 4,654 affordable homes near Mumbai. Of the total, 2,048 homes will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis and the remaining on a lottery.
The homes to be sold via lottery are available in Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts near Mumbai.
The homes are available in several income groups including Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Lower Income Group (LIG) and Middle-Income Group (MIG). The price range for these units is between Rs 14 lakh and Rs 50 lakh, for which prospective homebuyers can apply between March 8 and April 10. The results of the lottery will be announced on May 10.
According to Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) officials, the affordable homes have an area of between 230 sq ft and 670 sq ft, depending on the income category eligibility.
First-come, first-served
The 2,048 homes available on a first-come, first-served basis are located in the Virar area of the Palghar district near Mumbai. These homes are available for lower- and middle-income groups in the price range of Rs 23 lakh to Rs. 49 lakh. The carpet area range for these homes is between 320 sq ft and 670 sq ft approximately.
According to MHADA officials, these homes went unsold in the earlier lotteries. “These flats were put on sale in previous lotteries but did not find any takers due to which we have kept their sale on a first-come, first-served basis. Anyone can make the payment for these flats and take possession provided they meet the income criteria," one official said.
PMAY
Out of the 4,654 affordable homes, 184 homes are available under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for the Economically Weaker Section of society. The approximate carpet area of these homes is over 320 sqft in Kalyan, Thane, and Virar near Mumbai. The price of these homes is in the range of Rs 14 lakh to Rs 21 lakh. The Credit-Linked Subsidy under PMAY will not be available for these homes.
PMAY, a brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was extended up to December 2024 through an announcement in August 2022, but the Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme was available only until March 31, 2022. Under this scheme, qualifying borrowers were eligible for a home loan from banks and housing finance firms at a reduced interest rate.
Online lottery
According to MHADA officials, this will be the first lottery that will be conducted completely online. In January 2023, the authority launched a mobile application through which citizens can register and apply for the purchase of a flat under the lottery system.
Amenities
The homes under this lottery come with standard amenities that include ready-to-move-in apartments with basic sanitary and electrical fittings. The houses will have 24x7 water supply, elevators and solar panels for electricity.
Who can apply?
According to MHADA rules, any Indian citizen can apply for a house in the lottery provided they come under the prescribed income slab.
The annual income cap for the EWS category is Rs 6 lakh for those residing in Mumbai, Pune, and the Nagpur metropolitan region, and Rs 4.5 lakh for the rest of the state.
For the LIG segment, the annual income is Rs 9 lakh for Mumbai, Pune, and the Nagpur metropolitan region, and Rs 7.5 lakh for the rest of the state.
For the MIG segment, the income cap is Rs 12 lakh per annum across the state and over Rs 12 lakh for the entire state in the Higher Income Group category where there is no upper limit.
Similar homes by private developers in the areas mentioned above will be in the range of Rs 30 lakh to Rs 1.10 crore.
Why are MHADA homes cheaper?
The homes constructed by MHADA are built with the aim of providing affordable homes for citizens and not to earn a profit. An MHADA official said: “When we sell a flat, our aim is to recover the project cost or at least the construction cost of that apartment. Hence, homes sold by us and the area configuration provided by us makes our homes cheaper say by around 20-50 percent when compared to homes built by private developers.”
Affordable homes in Mumbai
Additionally, MHADA's Mumbai board, after a gap of four years, will announce the sale of over 4,000 affordable homes by lottery in the next two months, according to officials. More than 50 percent of these homes are expected to be for the Economically Weaker Sections, officials said.
For the first time in the history of MHADA, the authority in January 2023 announced that going ahead, its projects will include a slew of homebuyer-friendly amenities like swimming pools, gyms, club houses, yoga centres, and balconies or sky decks. These will be available to those who purchase middle-income group (MIG) and higher-income group (HIG) apartments.
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