MHADA houses remain expensive this year, too

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Affordable housing in Mumbai remains a distant dream as MHADA's latest rates sky rocket with the costliest one in the high-income group (HIG) pegged at Rs 5.8 crore. The promise of providing homes at 25 to 30 per cent reduced rates will only be fulfilled next year. The MHADA had last month said that rates will be lowered this year, but officials now say that it can happen only after the under-construction houses are ready.

The housing development authority had also announced that it will calculate the depreciation rate of houses built three to four years ago before listing them in the lottery. This came after lottery-winners began returning houses since they couldn't afford the high rates. Around 1,384 houses are part of the current lottery, of which 146 have been handed over to MHADA by private builders. These will be sold at lower rates by the housing development authority. However, the regular MHADA houses cannot be sold at cheaper rates, officials said.

Deependra Khushwah, MHADA Mumbai board›s chief officer, said, "The reduction in rates can happen once the under-construction houses are ready. For now, the houses received from developers are up for sale at reduced rates." MHADA has been facing a lot of flak for selling the costliest house a government agency ever has. Shiv Sena leader and recently-appointed president of MHADA, Uday Samant, had earlier said that it was only after the Sena was appointed at MHADA, that the reduction in rates was possible. While announcing the lottery last week, Samant said that the costliest house at Grant Road could have been pegged at R8 crore, "but because we have reduced the prices, it can be given at R5.8 crore," he said.

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