Rajshahi Correspondent: Rajshahi’s promising housing sector is now on the verge of collapse due to discriminatory tax policies, skyrocketing interest rates on bank loans and unbridled price increases in construction materials. If these policies are not reformed immediately, local housing traders will go bankrupt and 269 allied industries involved in it will collapse. The Real Estate and Developers Association (REDA), an organization of housing traders in Rajshahi, said these things at a press conference at a restaurant in the city on Saturday (June 27) at 12 noon.
In a written statement at the press conference, RADAR General Secretary A.S.M. Mizanur Rahman Kazi said, Rajshahi is basically a city focused on employees and education. There are no big corporate buyers here like Dhaka or Chittagong; the housing market here is completely dependent on the savings and pension money of the middle and upper-middle class. But since the new tax policy of 2023 imposed a 15% capital gains tax on landowners in the joint development model, landowners have been refusing to give land to developers. As a result, starting new projects in Rajshahi has come to a standstill. This 15% tax has been paid at every stage of signing money, inheritance and subsequent sale, creating a major deadlock in the housing sector. “Due to the unbridled price of rod-cement, the production cost per square foot in Rajshahi has increased by Tk 2,000. On the other hand, due to the interest on loans of 16% and registration costs of 13%, flats are now out of reach of the middle class.” Businessmen said that due to the new tariff and increase in electricity prices, the cost of producing rods has increased by about Tk 11,000 to 12,000 per ton. As a result, there are no buyers in the market despite the increase in production costs. Many companies are unable to repay bank loans due to the lack of flats sold. Speakers warned that if this sector, which contributes 15 to 16 percent to the country’s GDP, collapses, about 20 million people, the country’s second largest employment sector after the garment sector, will become unemployed directly and indirectly. In addition, the government is losing a huge revenue of Tk 30,000 crore annually as buyers do not register due to high taxes. Two urgent demands were made to the government at the press conference to overcome the crisis: first, reduce the additional tax and VAT rates imposed on land transfer, signing money and flat registration to a tolerable level; And secondly, to provide long-term special home loans at single digit interest rates to sustain the housing dream of the middle class. This stagnation will cause a major disaster in the overall economy if policy reforms are not implemented in time, the press conference was informed.
Present at the event were RADAR President Taufiqur Rahman Lavlu, Senior Vice President Adv. Irshad Ali Isha, Vice President Md. Kabir Hossain, Organizing Secretary Md. Mejbaul Bari, Finance Secretary M.M. Sihab Parvez, Planning and Information Secretary Md. Ujjwal Kabir, Office Secretary Md. Shafiqul Islam, Social Welfare and Sports Secretary Md. Maksudul Islam Sumon, Publicity and Publication Secretary Md. Akhtarul Huda Rumel, Board of Directors Member B.M. Akibur Rahman, Member Md. Shamimul Islam Moon, Member Md. Abdus Sobhan, Member Md. Tariqul Islam, Member Eng. Prashant Kumar Debnath, Member Md. Mohsin Ali, Member Md. Wasip Ali and RADAR members.
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