Affordable housing policy gets ‘pro-allottee’ clause

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 30

The Haryana Government has amended the “Affordable Housing Policy-2013” by introducing “pro-allottee’ provisions.

An order issued by the Haryana Town and Country Planning Department said: “if the licencee fails to get environmental clearance even after one year of holding of draw, the licencee is liable to refund the amount deposited by the applicant along with an interest of 12% if the allottee so desires”.

Meanwhile, now the builder could start the construction of dwelling units only after environmental clearance from the competent authority. And if the number of applications received is lower than the number of sanctioned flats, the allotment can be made in two or more phases.

Moreover, the minimum and maximum density permitted for residential complexes under the policy has been fixed as 750 and 900 persons per acre, respectively.

The policy was launched in 2013 by previous Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda apparently to pull the realty sector out of recession. Residential projects approved under the policy are eligible for a slew of incentives, including exemption from the licence fee, infrastructure development charges, floor-area ratio (FAR) of 225 and higher ground coverage of 50 per cent.

Under the policy, the maximum allotment rate for Gurgaon, Faridabad and the Pinjore-Kalka urban estate (Panchkula) is pegged at Rs 4,000 per sq ft. For other high and medium-potential towns, the rate has been fixed at Rs 3,600 per sq ft; and for the low-potential towns at Rs 3,000 per sq ft.