The affordable category has been the saviour of the housing sector, which is experiencing its worst phase in the past five years.
One major hurdle faced by lower middle class and EWS citizens is the cumbersome procedure in getting construction plan approved by local authorities.
Since it is mandatory to have plan approved, banks and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) seek approved plan to provide home loans under PMAY norms and also under their credit norms. Unfortunately, unauthorised local agents, hand-in-glove with plan sanctioning authorities, have established their own agency in getting approval of construction plans. The local agents seek huge sums of money for getting plans approved, and many times, after collecting money, vanish from the scene, leaving the gullible people to face hardships.
Hence it is strongly suggested to remove the plan approval procedure for construction of houses by individuals for houses meeting the affordable housing norms. In such case, people can be guided by government authorities by providing model house plans or issue guidelines to licensed architects/engineers to draw plans.
(Source: The Hindu)
