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Download PDF The country’s booming housing sector has hit a huge snag as flat and land plot sales plummeted following the government’s move to collect information about the buyers’ sources of income.
The sales of flats and plots dropped by 50 percent at the latest fair of Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) compared to the last fair in 2005, Tanveerul Haque Probal, REHAB general secretary, yesterday said.
“Fear and uneasiness have affected potential buyers of apartments and flats because of the move initiated by different government agencies as part of the ongoing anti-corruption drive,” Probal said at a press conference organised by REHAB at a city hotel.
Representatives of construction-related industries, including cement, re-rolling, financial institutions, paints and ceramic, were present at the press conference. REHAB President Mohammad Abdul Awal gave the introductory speech at the event.
Besides the illegal money holders, general people as well as remittance earners are also being discouraged to invest in the housing sector, the REHAB general secretary said.
“Notwithstanding the downtrend in sales the real estate entrepreneurs have to pay bank interests regularly,” he said, adding that this downtrend has also caused a negative tendency in all the industries related to the housing sector.
Probal said REHAB members provide 6,000 apartments on an average. The housing industry along with other related sectors contributes 20 percent to the national GDP, he claimed.
He said around 2.5 crore people are directly and indirectly dependant on the housing sector in which 15 lakh skilled and semi-skilled people work.
Representing the cement industry, Holcim Bangladesh Managing Director PN Iyer said the sector has already been burdened with overproduction and the problem further deepened with cement sales dropping by 10 percent due to the latest crisis in the housing sector.
Financial institution representative Yongbok Jo, deputy managing director of IDLC, said financial institutions have invested over Tk 500 crore in the housing sector but the collection from REHAB members dropped significantly.
Sk Masadul Alam, general secretary of Bangladesh Re-Rolling Mills Association, said the industry is on the verge of a collapse because of the fall in housing sector sales.
The housing industry alone consumes 30 percent of the re-rolling industry products, he added.
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