MHADA has just 17 houses for the poor

The implementation of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) and a struggle to list houses for the economically weaker section (EWS) has thrown the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority's (MHADA) housing lottery plans out of gear

Representational picture

The implementation of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) and a struggle to list houses for the economically weaker section (EWS) has thrown the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority's (MHADA) housing lottery plans out of gear.

Also, MHADA has just 17 EWS houses to offer in this year's lottery, thanks to the space crunch. EWS houses are around 300 square feet and are priced at around Rs 25 lakh. After a delay of over three months, the lottery is now likely to be announced in the first week of September.

Earlier, it was the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) 2016 that came into effect from May 1, 2017 that had delayed MHADA's lottery

announcement, which is usually announced by the end of May, every year. After registering with RERA, it was the month-long struggle to identify houses that could be put up for sale.

MHADA officials said, "There is serious land crunch and not many EWS houses have been constructed in the recent past, which is why the number of houses put on sale is very low." Subhash Lakhe, head of MHADA's Mumbai board, was unavailable for comment.

You may also like - Then and Now: Smriti Irani's journey from a model to Union Minister

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!