Real state industry has welcomed the announcement of new low cost housing scheme by the federal government for poor masses in the budget 2013-14. Commenting on the federal budget, former chairman Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) Muneer Sultan said that federal minister Ishaq Dar had announced to build some 0.5 million houses. This will help to revive the housing industry, which was ignored for the last many years, he added.
In order to revive the housing and its allied 72 industries, government should ensure implementation on this announcement, he demanded. He said that housing industry was facing many challenges for the last many years and had been least priority of the government. Commenting on the imposition of minimum tax of Rs 25 per sq ft on sale of construction area, he said that this tax will be paid by end user and it will not directly hit the builders. However, he said, the new tax will increase the cost of housing sector, therefore it should be reconsidered.