The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has put up 4,083 affordable homes in Mumbai for sale. But there are few options available for homebuyers with an annual family income above Rs 9 lakh.
According to data made available by MHADA, out of the 4,083 apartments available for sale, only 259 are available for the Middle Income Group (MIG) and Higher Income Group (HIG) category, where the family income is above Rs 9 lakh. These 259 apartments are available in the range of Rs 1 crore to Rs 7.50 crore.
As many as 2,790 apartments are available under the economically weaker section (EWS) category and 1,034 apartments in the lower income group (LIG).
The remaining units are available for sale to those under the Rs 1 crore bracket.
Watch: MHADA Launches 4083 Affordable Houses
Eligibility as per income slabs
As per the slab, the annual family 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 should be up to 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 should be up to Rs 12 lakh per annum across the state, and family income should be above Rs 12 lakh for the HIG category. There is no upper limit for the HIG category.
Why fewer homes for households with income above Rs 9 lakh?
MHADA maintains that the cutoff is owing to the authority focusing more on the affordable housing segment, which has the maximum inventory. However, MHADA expects inventory in the MIG and HIG segment to increase in the next two to three years owing to which the availability of this stock will increase in upcoming lotteries, from next year onwards.
Currently, MHADA is offering apartments in the MIG and HIG category from unsold units in a previous lottery held by the Authority. There were few takers earlier as there was more demand for affordable housing.
In the affordable segment, apartments are available under Rs 1 crore for families with income up to Rs 9 lakh per annum.
Costliest apartments
According to MHADA, the costliest apartment in the lot of 4,083 apartments is one in Tardeo, which has a price tag of Rs 7.57 crore and a carpet area of 1,531 sqft. The second costliest apartment is in the same building, Crescent Tower, where a 1,520 sqft carpet area is available for Rs 7.52 crore.
Crescent Tower was constructed by a private developer under 33/7 development control regulation (DCR), wherein old and dilapidated buildings are taken up for redevelopment.
The per sqft quotation of MHADA’s costliest apartment in Tardeo is a little less than Rs 50,000 per sqft. Further, the per sqft quotation in private projects in Tardeo and surrounding is anywhere between Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh per sqft. This depends on the age of the building, amenities available and several other hyper-local factors.
Amenities
The building in Tardeo for the HIG category comes with amenities such as a clubhouse, gym, swimming pool, park, guest parking, reserved parking, goods lift etc.
In the case of other apartments being offered by MHADA under the EWS category, the Authority has provided basic amenities such as a lift, parking, open space in terms of a garden etc. However, the EWS apartments that have come up for sale in the Goregaon west area come with modern amenities such as solar panels, open space with a garden, rainwater harvesting, electric vehicle car parking etc.
Also read: Going, going, gone: 3BHK flats in Mumbai with EV parking, solar power for under Rs 1 crore
Are they worth buying?
"I think the job of MHADA is to focus on constructing affordable homes, which are very well below the Rs 1 crore price tag. However, there are few apartments in this year’s lottery that are in the range of Rs 4 crore to Rs 7 crore,” said Ajay Chaturvedi, CEO, Real Estate Study Circle, a research and consultancy firm based in Mumbai.
He added, “Looking at the apartments in the MIG and HIG category, I do not see any sense in investing such a high amount in apartments having a MHADA tag. If you have Rs 7 crore, and if you go to a private real estate project, you will get more for a budget of around Rs 7 crore. The amenities, facilities and the services in an apartment worth Rs 7 crore in a private project and a MHADA project will be very different.”
