Nearly 1,500 low-cost homes are expected to go on sale next month in Mumbai’s satellite cities including Navi Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Kalyan and Dombivali, according to the Money Control report.

Houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) Affordable Housing Scheme will also be included in the sale for which citizens can benefit from a credit-linked subsidy

All the houses will be put up for sale through an online lottery system for the economically weaker and lower income category, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) confirmed on Thursday.

According to the MHADA, the size and cost of the houses have yet to be determined. “We will send a proposal to the state government on the sale of approximately 1,500 houses through an online lottery system. These houses are located in areas like Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan, Dombivali and Virar etc. said Nitin Mahajan, Managing Director of MHADA’s Konkan Board of Trustees.

“We have yet to determine the rates and carpeted areas for these apartments. However, these apartments will be available for the Lower Economic Section (EWS) and Low Income Group Category (LIG). Among these, some Virar houses will also be sold under the PMAY program. The exact ratio of house categories is yet to be determined,” Mahajan added.

In 2021, over 8,000 homes were put up for sale in these areas by MHADA, with prices starting at Rs 13 lakh. However, the reason for the drop in numbers this year is that in 2021, the lottery sale took place almost three years after the last lottery in 2018.

In addition, 948 social housing units and 220 plots of land will also go on sale next month, MHADA added. These include properties in Aurangabad, Jalna, Osmanabad, Latur, Parbhani, Hingoli and Nanded districts of Maharashtra.

In 1997, the Maharashtra government established MHADA to provide affordable housing in Mumbai and parts of the state. Since its inception, MHADA has constructed 4,85,151 dwellings/buildings (as of November 2021), according to Maharashtra Economic Survey 2021-22 data tabled in the state assembly in March.