Realtors want amnesty for black money to continue
Realtors yesterday urged the government to continue the scope to legalise black money through investment in the real estate sector in the next fiscal year for giving a boost to apartment sales.
“The sector has so far failed to get the full benefit from the amnesty mainly due to the prolonged political unrest last year,” said M Wahiduzzaman, general secretary of Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB).
“The government should continue the option in the upcoming budget as well,” he said at the inauguration of a five-day housing exhibition -- REHAB Fair-2014 -- at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.
However, in fiscal 2012-13, some 344 people chose to whiten Tk 293 crore in total, which brought in a mere Tk 49.36 crore in taxes, according to the National Board of Revenue.
The government provided the opportunity to gain amnesty for undisclosed wealth by paying a 10 percent fine in addition to normal tax.
The realtors' appeal came at a time when apartment and plot sales are reviving slowly mainly due to improvement of political environment after the January 5 national election.
Apartment and plot sales registered a 60 percent drop in 2013 from the previous year because of political unrest and high lending rates, according to REHAB.
In recent times, interest rates on loans to buy property have climbed to more than 18 percent, up from 14-15 percent a year ago, the realtors said.
REHAB in a recent study found that a total of 338 companies have 22,572 units of unsold flats worth Tk 21,506.36 crore as of December 2013. As the association has around 1,200 member companies, the actual number would be far higher, the realtors said.
The sector also witnessed a significant fall in new project registrations last year. The number of new projects undertaken by developers declined by around 75 percent in 2013 compared to the previous year.
The housing association also called upon the government to relax the rule of mandatory use of solar energy to get new electricity connections for households.
As per the rule, owners of new buildings have to set up rooftop photovoltaic panels that could produce 3 percent of the total electricity need of a building for getting electricity connections from the national grid.
There have been allegations of corruption in absence of monitoring, the realtors said, adding that once the electricity connection is obtained the panels are sold to a neighbouring building owner.
Speaking at the event, Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, said the government will open a 'fast track centre' for giving new electricity connections to customers in a bid to minimise hassles.
“The centre will help customers get electricity connections within 40 days of submitting applications,” he said.
New gas connections will also be provided to households when two under-construction gas compressor stations will be ready next month, Hamid said.
The state minister also came down on Rajuk, the development authority of Dhaka city, for what he said harassing realtors while approving project plans.
“One has to wait for months to get such an approval,” said Hamid, also a former president of the housing association.
He also said there is no load shedding in the country now. At present, Bangladesh produces around 6,800 megawatt of electricity daily against a production capacity of 11,000MW, he said.
Mukarram Hussain, senior vice president of REHAB, said it is the ideal time to invest in the real estate sector, which witnessed a price correction last year.
The exhibition displays projects from 141 members of the association and is open to all at an entry fee of Tk 50 from 11am to 9pm.
A total of 14 financial institutions and manufacturers of building materials are also participating in the fair.
Comments