Monthly Archives: August 2011

Relief for Buyers of Patwari Village.

Greater Noida: There’s relief for 20,000 buyers who have booked flats in project in Patwari village, at least for the time being. The Supreme Court told a group of Patwari farmers to withdraw their petitions that challenged the government’s move to make out-of-court settlement with farmers. A section of farmers in Patwari, where the Authority on 6 August 2011 struck a higher compensation-based deal to revive real estate projects, had moved the apex court against the pact. In a related development, a judge heading an Allahabad High Court bench constituted for hearing petitions challenging acquisition of land in Gautam Budh Nagar district recused himself from the case.

USA Downgrading Impacts on Interest Rates

Will the US rating downgrading from AAA to AA+ impact the real estate sector? Will it have a long-term or an immediate impact? Who would get the hit, the residential or the commercial real estate sector?

The good news is that the interest rates might come down in residential segment whereas commercial real estate sector will be hit and the reduction will take place in office space. This is the first time something like this had happened and it is difficult to predict the consequences. It has created uncertainty in the global market and extreme instability across asset classes.

There could be some positives for emerging markets such as India, with the cut of prices of oil and other commodities, inflation too can be controlled adding to it interest rate should come down. Overall, impact on real estate in India could be positive.

The money that pours in will be further used to further for residential development as we already have reasonable capacity for commercial development that still needs to be absorbed. However, in the long run, the commercial property sector take-up maybe an issue, from the demand side from IT/ITeS sector which are closely linked with the USA.

Metro Connectivity and Real Estate Prices Go Parallel.

Metro connectivity and property rates in the capital goes hand in hand , its just like they run on parallel tracks as right from the announcement of new metro connections , property rates follows an upward swing. With Delhi metro gearing up for the Phase III construction that will cover areas like Vasant Vihar, Dhaula Kuan, Munirka , Kalka Ji , lajpat Nagar , Botonical Garden (Noida) , real estate prices are expected to see a major rise in the prices. Metro certainly affectes real estate as it is a major factor to provide a safe and comfortable mode of transport. People prefers homes situated near the metro stations. How ever since the prices have already increased so much that it will be difficult to say how much impact the new lines will have now. Consultants further says that properties which are located near the Metro stations will have the maximum increase in the real estate price.

The entire scenario can be explained in terms of a U curve where in right from the announcement of the projects the price tends to go upwards and then it declines when the construction is underway and again goes up when the project is complete. On an average , a property may see 20-30 per cent hike in price over three years. Proximity to the station may also effects an increase of 35-40 per cent. Due to increase in the rates of properties which are near to Metro stations , the Municipal Valuation committee constituted by Delhi Government has also adviced that the residential colonies within half a KM radius of Metro line would be upgraded by one level since they have witnessed the maximum amount of Infrastructure development.

Out of Court Agreement Reached Between a Few Farmers

Greater Noida: The out of court agreement reached between a 15-member committee of Patwari and the officials are super quick in making payment of revised land rates. Officials on Tuesday distributed cheques among 24 farmers. Another 14 farmers have signed the draft agreement. CEO Rama Raman of GNIDA confirmed the payment.

If the Patwari pact stands, it will save 20,000 under constructed houses in the village. Generally, authority takes months to pay compensations but in it’s desperation this time the authority is issuing cheques in hurry.

The authority, three years ago acquired 589 hectares of land in Patwari at Rs 850 per sq m. About 15% of farmers have not accepted the compensation. Now, the compensation has been hiked to Rs 1400 per sq m. Of Rs 550 hiked, Rs 290 will be borne by the builders. GNIDA will give the increased cash compensation to only those farmers who agree to the deal through affidavits, stating they will withdraw petitions and will never challenge the deal in court.

DDA Eases Norms for Installing Lifts

Usk Street 01
Photo by joseph beuys hat
If you live on second or third floor in a DDA flat, then climbing those stairs is no more a back-breaking experience anymore. The DDA has eased the norms for installing lifts in its apartment blocks. The country’s biggest land development agency has been catering to Delhi’s housing needs for more than 40 years. Since, DDA structures have only 04 floors they do not have lifts. Although flat-owners had so far been allowed to install lifts later on their buildings on their own, the procedure of getting permission was burdensome. All the owners of an individual block, with eight to sixteen flats, have to agree to the proposal. The new norm stipulates that lifts can be installed once most flat owners of the block agree. The consent of the ground floor owners is not required any longer. The cost of installing a lift is Rs 10-15 lakhs, which the flat owners would have to bear. The flat owners will have to apply for NOC to DDA for arrears. While applying for NOC, flat-owners will have to attain structural stability certificate from the registered architect.

Gurgaon Farmers too Move Court for Trust Land

Farmers of Ullawas village, Gurgaon decided to move to High court of Punjab and Haryana to reclaim land leased for 33 years to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable trust in 2009. The land was leased for setting up a charitable eye hospital on 5 acres of Panchayat land. They have also decided to move court to reclaim an acre of land leased to another social organization, the Church Gate Medical Society, for setting up a dental facility.

We will also file a petition against government officials who were instrumental in pressuring the panchayat head and members to pass the resolution and sign lease deeds in favor of these societies. The deputy commissioner on the direction of Harayana Government threatened to dissolve the panchayat and dismissed sarpanch, forcing them to pass the resolution and sign the leads.

However, Prakash the Sarpanch, refused the allegations of pressure on the Panchayat by the deputy commissioner. A bunch of politically ambitious farmers are trying to flare up the issue to gain political mileage.

GNIDA and Farmers Talks Fail

Greater Noida: 11 days left for the state government to work out an out of court settlement with Noida Extension farmers, the GNIDA has rushed talks but without success. The discussion between authority and the farmers of Patwari village failed on the issue of compensation, because back to back court orders quashing forcible land acquisition. The fate of 1 lakh houses in Noida Extension hangs in the balance. The CEO of GNIDA Rama Raman, faced a hostile crowd of farmers, who said if the authority could not hike the compensation then there is no point of holding this discussion. They also accused the authority of trying dividing farmers by giving rehabilitations and other benefits to selected farmers, to weaken the movement against land acquisition. Farmer leader said the authority is trying to play divide and rule policy by keeping land of some influential farmers. He told CEO, no out of court settlement could be reached out without hiking the compensation.

The CEO said four bighas of land belonging to the village head would be regularized and not termed as encroachment. The discussion between the authority and the Patwari village’s farmers failed on the issue of compensation. The authority wants to acquire the land and pay according to new acquisition and rehabilitation policy which allows the authority to give farmers bigger developed land plots, Rs 200 more per sqm as cash compensation, besides annuity payouts.

After Greater Noida Farmers of Yamuna Expressway Move to Court

More trouble for the builders, farmers of Yamuna expressway may target F1 track. After Noida and Greater Noida, its now turn of Yamuna Expressway land row to cause worries among thousands of homebuyers. Farmers more than 30 villages, along the Greater Noida – Agra toll road, the villagers decided to move to Allahabad High Court against land acquisition. They also threaten to stall real estate projects. Farmers of some villages have already moved to court. If the farmers succeed to get quashing order, the fate of India’s first ever formula 1 event, may also come under threat. It is India’s first ever Formula 1 event whose work on the racetrack is nearing to completion.

An official of Jaypee said, “If farmers are moving court, we’ll go by the law of the land. As for the security of our projects it is the responsibility of the administration”. However, the official hope that at some stage farmers would understand that the racing project would promote tourism and generate more employment which would ultimately benefit the local people.

Property Prices Set to Fly Rise in Two Cities

The lands in Noida and Greater Noida will make houses costlier in both cities. Out of 54 villages in Noida, 40 have been agitating for plots for years. So, more land is still required. There will be no land left for allotment to developers. Demand for land is ever increasing; land prices are bound to go up considerably. Apart from 10,000 odd farmers who are seeking developed land plots, about 4500 farmers in 11 villages of Noida, whose land was acquired before 1997 have also launched an agitation. The authority says in order to meet the demand the option of raising floor area ratio that allows construction of bulkier buildings. But this alone can’t solve the crisis. The land rates have to go up. In Greater Noida, the situation is different. Here, two court decisions have quashed forcible acquisition of about 750 hectares of land in two villages. Other villages have also moved court.

The process of out-of-court settlement is on. If the farmers are paid more, land prices automatically will go up. If there is no out-of-court settlement, land has to be reacquired under the state’s new acquisition policy, which leaves less saleable land with the authority.