A pricey affair

Rajmeet Singh

A lot of hope had been generated among homebuyers oflate with the present government’s thrust on affordable housing and “Housing for All” campaigns. Going by the serious policy leanings towards providing housing to the masses at realistic prices one would think that at least government-run bodies would be following the “affordable” path. However, the ground reality is completely different if one takes into account the recent “pricing strategies” of such bodies.

In Chandigarh’s case a lot of eyebrows were raised when Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) recently announced the reserve prices for auction of flats in an already completed project. CHB has a virtual monoply in the City Beautiful wherein no private builder can come up with a residential project and those nursing the dream of owning a house in Chandigarh have either the secondary market to explore or wait for a housing scheme launched by the CHB. This monoply gives CHB a huge leverage to set price benchmarks.

In a first of its kind move, the CHB is going to auction 45 flats, including 17 flats in the Sector 63 self-financing housing scheme with reserved price being literally fixed at par with market prices of the flats.

Under criticism for fixing high reserve prices of Rs79.95 lakh for a three bedroom flat, Rs59.95 lakh for two bedroom, Rs39.95 lakh for one bedroom and Rs19.95 lakh for EWS flat, the opening of bidding would result in a new benchmark on pricing for a flat in Chandigarh.

The original allotment price of the 3-BHK, 2-BHK, one bedroom and EWS flat was Rs39.6 lakh, Rs29.1 lakh, Rs17.1 lakh and Rs5.6 lakh, respectively. Similarly, two bedroom flats in Sector 51 were price at Rs50 lakh and now the price has been taken to Rs70 lakh.

These, however, are ready-to-move-in flats as the project is already complete. CHB Chairman, Maninder Singh, said flats that had been surrendered by the allottees would be auctioned within a week. and the possession would be handed over to successful bidders immediately after the auction.

The high price of these flats have disheartened many prospective buyers who have been waitihng for the board’s new schemes. Raj Kumar Pal, a real estate agent dealing in CHB flats, said the reserved price of the Sector 63 flats has been increased arbitrarily. “Similar flats are available in the market at much lesser price.

A two bedroom flat is available for around Rs60 lakh in the nearby areas”, he added while maintaining that the reserve price should be realistic.

Questioning the move of the CHB to auction the property at a time when the real estate sector is faced with slowdown. A number of builders in the peripheral areas of Mohali are crying foul over the flat lying unsold.

Charanjiv Singh, a real estate agent, said in the recession-hit the market the CHB flats are not attracting much premium as it is leasehold property and the ownership rights can not be transferred for five years from the date of physical possession of the property.

Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Sector 51, said a 2-BHK in Sector 64 has cost him over Rs40 lakh as he had taken loan against the house. Due to delay in allotment, he is paying house rent for over two years.” It has been over priced by the CHB whose mandate should be affordable housing”, he said.

The CHB will shortly be launching another general housing scheme for 128 two-bedroom flats in Sector 51-A. According to CHB officials, a 2BHK flat would cost around Rs70 lakh. So far, only residents of Chandigarh would be eligible for the housing scheme.

However, according to CHB Chairman Maninder Singh, the board is likely to have a rethink on the issue of reserve price for the auction of flats in Sector 63 soon. Prospective homebuyers, however, demand that CHB should come up with more affordable housing schemes in the city as there is extensive demand in this segment and large chunks of land in southern sectors should be developed for housing projects.

Price trends tricity

Sector 21
Rental: 14-20
Capital: 7000-8000

Sector 15
Rental: 19-21
Capital: 5000-6000

Sector-49
Rental: 12-13
Capital: 5000-8000

Sector -38
Rental: 9-10
Capital: 4000-5000

Sector - 44
Rental: 7-12
Capital: 18000-20000

Sector-33
Rental: 10-25
Capital: 2000-4000

Panchkula sec 12
Rental: 8-10
Capital: 5000-1000

Ambala Highway
Rental: 5-7
Capital: 2000-4000

Dera Bassi
Rental: 4-7
Capital: 2000-3000

Zirakpur
Rental:7-9
Capital:3000-3500

Average rate per sq yd

Source: Makaan.com