The National Real Estate Development Council has requested the Centre to increase the approval time frame of such housing projects by at least five years.
"The rental housing policy is not yet final across several states. Hence, to incentivise the developers of rental housing projects, the time limit of approval should be increased by at least five years," stated Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, Vice Chairman of NAREDCO.
NAREDCO President Rajan Bandelkar added that the Centre should increase the deduction of interest on home loan for self-occupied house from taxable income to at least Rs 5 lakh in order to promote the ownership concept.
Currently, interest on borrowed capital to acquire a house for rental purposes is allowed in full. However, in the case of self-occupied houses, interest is restricted to Rs 2 lakhs, the council said.
Further, the Council urged the Centre to treat the units of 'Real Estate Investment Trusts' equivalent to listed entities for direct tax computation.
(With inputs from IANS)
