Tribune News Service
Dushyant Singh Pundiru
Chandigarh, September 10
Despite repeated auctions, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has been unable to attract buyers for its commercial and residential properties offered on a long lease.
In eight auctions held over a period of more than a year, the CHB managed to sell only 44 commercial properties and 16 long-term leasehold properties.
A real estate consultant attributed the poor response to the leasehold properties to current rules and regulations and said the main reason was the lack of property rights. In the absence of the property, the buyer has to pay the annual lease fee and also does not get any other facilities such as a bank loan. “If someone buys a long-term property, sooner or later he/she has to convert it into ownership, which again entails high costs,” he added.
In order to attract buyers, the CHB had requested permission from the UT administration to enable conversion of leasehold properties to own land in February of this year.
In a letter to the State Secretary, Estates, UT, the CHB had indicated that many residential and commercial spaces built by the CHB on the ground leased by the board had been unsold for years. The CHB has requested permission for the sale of built-up homes and business premises on its own land, the land of which has been allocated on a long lease by the UT administration.
Even after nearly six months, they have not received a response from the administration, a CHB official said. However, after a miscarriage in the Supreme Court over the conversion of commercial and industrial leaseholds from the Estate Office, UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit had recently clarified that he was in favor of the conversion of leaseholds into his own ownership for the development of the city.
By February 10, the administration had allowed the e-auction of residential, commercial, industrial, and nursing home sites on its own land, and the CHB had also converted its council properties to property, but it needed permission for the conversion of properties to property. , which were allocated by the administration on a long lease basis.
An official said the CHB had to spend huge amounts of money on the maintenance and upkeep of the unsold properties. More than 100 commercial properties stood empty at the CHB, some built nearly 40 years ago, he added.
The official said that converting the properties into ownership would attract buyers and generate income for the CHB and also create employment opportunities in the city. Citing an example, the official said a commercial leasehold stand could not be sold for nearly Rs 40 lakh but was auctioned for almost double the amount after conversion into own ownership. To attract buyers, the existing property would first have to be converted from leasehold to ownership, he added.
Kamaljit Singh Panchhi, president of Property Federation Chandigarh, said the high collector rates were another reason for a poor response to the CHB properties. “Areas bordering Mohali and Panchkula are considered a better option due to the overall progress and much low collection rates,” he said, suggesting that the administration should cut collection rates by at least 40% to get crores to rupees in the form to earn. of stamp duty.