Three possible pitfalls of going for festive subvention deals
Like every year, real estate developers have started queuing up with deals and festive offers that may continue well into March next year. These offers include cash discounts, waiving of charges for a club house or location, discounts in the form of freebies such as modular kitchen, cars or gadgets, and subvention schemes.
While you may consider one of the offers if you find it suitable, you should be wary of subvention schemes even if they look attractive. There’s a catch in these schemes you may not realize immediately. In fact, in July this year, the National Housing Bank (NHB) advised housing finance companies to desist from tying up with builders to provide loans for projects offering subvention schemes.
The RBI issued similar advice to scheduled commercial banks way back in 2013. However, some real estate developers are back with subvention schemes this year. A case in point is Mumbaibased developer Sheth Group. It has announced a “subvention scheme” on its luxury apartment project “Sheth Zuri”, located in Thane West, Mumbai. Under the scheme, “Go-easy Deal”, homebuyers are required to pay just 5% of the property value at the time of booking. During the period of construction, the developer will pay the interest on the home loan.
HOW THEY WORK
Under subvention schemes, the developer, typically, keeps the initial payment or down payment low, usually 5-20% of the property value, so that the deal looks easy on the pocket. The remaining amount is to be paid at the time of possession.
When you buy an apartment under a subvention scheme, you pay the initial amount, and the bank pays the loan amount to the developer, according to the construction stage, while the interest portion on the loan disbursed is paid by the developer.
Homebuyers benefit because they don’t need to pay interest on the home loan till the time the property remains under-construction or for the period agreed upon. Developers, too, benefit, as such a scheme increases the saleability of the project.
Also, the interest rate applicable on a home loan is much less than the rate on any other loan the developer may need to take to fund the project. “Liquidity isn’t there in the (real estate) market right now. These (subvention schemes) are good options for developers to boost sales.
THE DISADVANTAGES
On the face of it, subvention schemes look attractive, especially for those who want to start paying EMIS only after they get the possession of the house, but there are disadvantages you may tend to ignore.
High cost: Remember that nothing comes for free. Projects that offer subvention schemes are generally priced higher than others in the vicinity. In fact, in many projects, developers offer separate rates for the same apartment to homebuyers who opt for a subvention scheme and those who don’t.
The idea is to increase the per sq.ft rates of the apartment to cover the developer’s expenses—for paying the interest on the home loan on the buyer’s behalf—to some extent.
“One should do his/her homework and calculate every component in terms of pricing. It is advised that a buyer calculates the last per sq.ft price with and without the offers to conclude the deal,” said Samir Jasuja, founder, Propequity, a Gurgaon-based real estate, research and analytics firm.
Impact on credit score: Usually, developers tie up with various lending institutions to finance such schemes. For instance, Sheth Group has tied up with ICICI Bank to offer the subvention scheme.
During the financing process, typically, a tri-party agreement is executed between the homebuyer, the developer and the lending institution. The buyer pays the down payment, the lender agrees to make further payments to the developer, and the developer agrees to pay the EMIS on behalf of the borrower till possession or till the time specified in the agreement.
Under such arrangements, the actual borrower remains the homebuyer. So if there’s any default in payment by the developer, it will be you, the homebuyer, whose credit rating will get affected.
No tax benefit: According to the Income-tax Act, 1961, a borrower can claim deduction under Section 80C against principal repayment of a home loan, up to an overall limit of ₹1.5 lakh, and under Section 24 (b) against payment of interest up to ₹2 lakh, for a self-acquired house. Tax benefit can be claimed only when the borrower gets the possession of the house. Also, the interest paid during the construction period can be claimed as deduction in five equal instalments, starting from the year of possession; the principal repayment during the construction period can’t be claimed as deduction.
This benefit, however, may not be applicable if the developer pays the interest on your behalf under the subvention scheme. “Interest paid by the developer under the subvention scheme cannot be construed as borne by the buyer, hence, it would be difficult for the buyer to avail a deduction in respect of the same,” said Neha Malhotra, executive director, Nangia Advisors (Andersen Global), a chartered accountancy firm.
Contrary to that, payment of interest would be treated as the homebuyer’s income and it will attract tax.
“As the amount of interest paid by the developer represents discharge of a buyer’s liability to the bank by the developer, it would be a benefit received by the buyer. Accordingly, the buyer’s total income for the year should include the amount of interest borne by the developer, as his income from other sources under Section 56 of the Act,” said Malhotra.
SO WHAT’S ON OFFER FOR HOMEBUYERS? Discounts
Cash discounts are undoubtedly one of the most lucrative deals on offer. These discounts are offered on the per sq ft price. For example on the brochure rate of Rs 4,000 per square feet, a cash discount of Rs 200 is offered.
Freebies
Developers have also come out with a host of assured freebies on every flat booking. These could be in the form of white goods like air conditioners or a complete, modular kitchen and other home appliances like television or furniture and so on. Assured gifts can also include gold coins, iphones, a foreign trip and a club membership.
GST waiver
Developers are also offering GST waivers on purchases. Currently the GST is five percent for residential units outside the affordable housing segment.
WHAT CAN BUYERS DO?
It is in one’s best interest to understand that this market is a buyer’s market.
Not only are developers offering deals and discounts, buyers are in a position bargain hard and gain significantly. There are other factors that favour homebuyers. Falling interest rates and huge supply of affordable and mid-income housing across top cities make it a perfect time to buy a property.
Amidst the current market scenario, buyers can get a further discount of 15-20 percent on the marketed price; in certain cases discounts have touched the level of 30 percent! However, if one is being offered a freebie that he already owns or one does not need, he can ask for discounts basis the MRP or the cost of the offering.
If suppose, the developer has offered air conditioners in all two rooms and a hall of a twobedroom apartment, you can always bargain on reducing another lakh from the total outgo during the deal and not take
BUT UNDERSTAND THE MARKET WELL
There has been a slump in the market. Huge unsold inventory has forced firms to not increase their rates. As a result, prices have remained range bound. With fewer launches, market is ready for homebuyers willing to take the buying decision.
The unsold inventory during first nine months (July-september) of 2019 was 444,673 units, registering a small drop as compared to the corresponding period in 2018. While there has been a revival of sorts in sales since 2018, developers are still not out of the woods.coming to 2019, the new supply in the market has been limited. In addition to fewer new launches, the share of mid and affordable housing segments have increased beyond 50% in the country.
Developers are therefore focused on delivering their existing projects. Hence, cautious buyers can now look at the market. But there is a silver lining.
The recent stimulus by the government in the form of a Rs 20,000 crore stress fund for the sector, and the removal of Minimum Alternate Tax have bolstered the cause of creating more economic zones and promote affordable housing.
Implementation of RERA ensures timely completion. In this light, while ready-tomove-in properties are the safest best, picking up a property in one of the under-construction projects can also be a better choice. The reforms and policy initiatives so far indicate that market is likely to see more deliveries in near future. So choose wisely, bargain hard!