Two and three bedrooms in city and suburbs

A rental of Rs 20,000 is big enough to get you a two to three-bedroom apartment in up market localities. South Delhi has limited options of two-bedroom apartments. Areas like Kalkaji and Malviya Nagar promise an area of 1,500-1,600 sq ft. North Delhi localities have plenty to offer. Areas like Gujerawal have three-bedroom floors built on an area of 250 sq yd. Suresh Sharma of Banwari Lal Properties says: “Model Town offers three plus one bedroom builder floor, but the cost is slightly higher. The area is about 2,248 sq ft.” But you will have to shell out some more money on the rent per month. At a lesser price, new builder floors are available in Gujerawal. The area ranges from 1,440-1,800 sq ft.

If you wish to live at a place, which has better connectivity, then Rohini is a good option. Also, rentals are low in the area. A fully furnished super HIG flat of 1,350 sq ft comes for Rs 16,000 per month. Even Pitampura is a good option. New builder floors of 1,800 sq ft are available here. The rental ranges from Rs 18,000-20,000 per month.

East Delhi has also got some options. Mayur Vihar Pahse I offers three-bedroom apartments of 1,650 sq ft. Moving towards the suburbs, Gurgaon has options of three-bedroom flats of 1,300 sq ft in Sushant Lok. In Mapple Height you can get three-bedroom flats of 1,250 sq ft. In this amount DLF City offers bigger space of 1,700-2,00 sq ft.

Noida’s sector 50 has three-bedroom flats of 1,800 sq ft. The sector is well connected. Sectors 39 and 28 also offer two-bedroom flats of 900 sq ft and three-bedroom apartments of 1,700 sq ft.

Chandigarh Properties
In this amount one gets several choices to pick from in Chandigarh and neighbouring Panchkula.
In Chandigarh Rs 20,000 provides for a good spacious accommodation in several sectors. First floor of 14-marla house is available in sectors 15,16, 18, 34, 35 and 36. In this amount one can also have an independent 10-marla house. The rent also depends upon the location of a house, and other facilities provided.

In most of the sectors in Panchkula, you can get first floor of a kanal house (500 sq yd) or ground floor of a 14-marla house. Another option in Rs 20,000 is an independent 10-marla house available in most of the sectors of Panchkula. Most of the flats of around 1,700 sq ft can be rented at far low rent of Rs 10,000 to Rs 11,000 in Panchkula.

In Panchkula, the culture of providing a furnished house is yet to take off, so it is advisable to look for a better location of the house, rather than keep searching for a furnished house. Nowadays, people opt for a rent agreement which is for 11 months. This lease deed includes the payment of 1.5 per cent stamp duty on the average rent of a year, registration fees, and other taxes.

The rent agreement and the lease deed include the time period for which the accommodation is rent out for, and also the rate of increase in rent over a period of time.

source://expressestates.in

One house, 2 VIP claimants

It is a fight between VIPs, who have got involved in gaining control, or rather taking possession, of a palatial ministerial bungalow spread over more than 1 acre in the posh locality of sector 2 here. In this turf war, on the one side is deputy speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Satpal Gosain and on the other officials of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Interestingly, both parties hold separate allotment letters for the same house and each of them claims to be the rightful allottee.

Gosain, who was at the house this morning, flashed a copy of the orders issued by Punjab chief secretary Ramesh Inder Singh, dated April 4 ,which said that house number 8, sector 2, had been allotted to him (Gosain). “It is not my fault and I will not budge from here. Rather, I will sit in dharna till this matter is resolved”, he thundered.

Officials of the high court were also at the house this morning. Their claim to the house in an order of the Chandigarh administration which, on April 12, said that house number 8, sector 2, had been allocated to the high court pool of government houses. This means the high court will be at liberty to allot it to any judge.

Sources said that not only this house but also house number 10, sector 2, and house number 3, sector 3, had been allocated to the “high court pool” of houses. House number 10 was earlier allotted to B.I.S. Chahal, former media adviser to former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, and the Punjab government had allotted the same to Upinderjit Kaur, education minister, on April 4.

Punjab officials admit privately that the Chandigarh administration should have taken the state into confidence if it wanted some government houses for judges. The government houses in sector 2 have been with Punjab ministers ever since these were constructed some 40 years ago.

As they day progressed, the chief secretary expressed ignorance about the matter and said he was yet to be informed about it. Advocate-general H.S. Mattewal said “ the matter will be resolved amicably”. Registrar-general of the high court R. B Gupta said “ I cannot comment on the issue”. Officials of the high court who were at the house said they were not empowered to say anything. The Chandigarh administration officials concerned virtually went into hiding and were not even taking calls on their phones.

Notably, Gosain also showed a copy of a letter which indicated that he had actually taken possession on April 14. On the door of the bungalow an order of the Chandigarh administration has been pasted. It is dated April 19 and says that high court officials took possession of the house on that date. On April 8, Gosain got the BSNL landline telephone installed at the same house re-activated. The house and the telephone were earlier allotted to previous deputy speaker Darbari Lal.

Gosain also showed copies of the letters he had written to the speaker, the Chief Justice of India, the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Punjab Chief Minister and also the UT administrator. In the letter to the CJI he has demanded that action should be taken against those who took possession of
his house.

Sources in the Chandigarh administration said Chandigarh properties were owned by it and it had every right to change the allocation of government houses. In the past Punjab had pointed out that, as per the Reorganisation of States Act, 1966, the Chandigarh administration was just the custodian of the properties not the owner. Hence, a decision had to be taken with the concurrence of the state.

Source://tribuneindia.com

Ludhiana, Now on The Hot Realty Map

There are three things that you cannot miss when you visit Ludhiana. A liquor vend at every nook and corner, advertisements for easy immigration to Canada, and the massive construction that is happening across the city.

The city, which was known for its textile and cycle industry, has seen big money pouring in with big names like DLF, Aerens and Omaxe setting up residential as well as commercial properties in the city. Then there are local players eyeing a pie in the growing real estate market.

With the kothi culture still prevalent in the city and money coming in from NRIs, most choose plotted developments and huge houses. There aren't many flats barring a few government houses. Most colonisers opt for plotted developments that are spread across 40 acres of land.

Sukhdev Singh of Star Developers, a real estate group, which is building a large colony spread across 40 acres of land on Ferozepur Road, says, "Most of the houses that are being bought are by NRIs and they want huge houses and not flats." The city's real estate growth has been spurred on by NRI families and the increase in the purchasing power of the residents of Ludhiana.

One of the few groups that claims to have built the first luxury apartments in the city in B R S Nagar is the Singla Group. According to K K Singla, founder chairman, Singla Group, "We know flats have very few takers in the city but there is a huge chunk of young professionals who are coming into the city who prefer to live in apartments."

The property, on which the group has spent Rs 90 crore, will have 99 flats including Ludhiana's first penthouses. The price range of these flats start from Rs 33 lakh for a two bedroom apartment and goes upto Rs 1.25 crore for the penthouses.

The builder is also providing two airconditioners, a refrigerator, washing machine, dishwasher and television sets, besides other amenities, with each flat.

Chandigarh Road and Fero-zepur Road are the most attractive destinations for integrated townships and mixed-use projects. The prices for high-end plotted developments in prime locations like Sarabha Nagar, Civil Lines and Gurdev Nagar are somewhere in the range of Rs 2,200-3,300 per sq ft.

Apart from these areas, places such as Model Town Extension, Rajguru Nagar, Maya Nagar and Green Park are also attracting the interest of developers. The property rates in these areas are in the range of Rs 1,660-2,200 per sq ft.

One of the most awaited properties in Ludhiana is the City Centre. The project is being built by Improvement Trust and will be ready by 2008, but has been marred by controversy. The City Centre is expected to have five main sections.

The mall with shopping arcades, showrooms and offices; a health centre with OPD, emergency services and a helipad; a podium to provide a hotel site, financial institutions and provision for a rooftop swimming pool, and the square - to house department stores, a hotel, exhibition halls and a trade centre - and the forum for an art gallery, an auditorium, food plaza, a cinema complex, library, museum and cyber cafes.

Close to Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) is being spent on the City Centre, being constructed on Pakhowal Road. Other commercial areas are at Mall Road, Link Road, Ghumar Mandi, Feroze Gandhi Market, Sarabha Nagar Market and Ferozepur Road.

Feroze Gandhi Market is the commercial hub of the city where all banks and financial service companies are located. As R S Bawa, proprietor, Bawa Developers, puts it, "The demand will be primarily led by the companies from the banking and financial sector, telecom companies and other service sector corporates." For now, Singla points out, a lot of residential properties are being used for commercial purposes.

Mall mania has hit the town what with 15 malls expected to be ready by 2009. Most of these projects are on Fero-zepur Road and GT Road. Ferozepur Road has a number of organised retail developments, like Vishal Mega Mart, Ansal Plaza and Centrestage Mall.

Large format retail projects like Westend Mall are also underway on Ferozepur Road. "Ferozepur Road should soon be rechristened Mall Street with so many malls coming up," laughs Singla.

Apart from this, other national level players like Areans and Omaxe too have started their commercial projects in the city. Omaxe has a mall called Festival City, which will be spread across 5,00,000 sq ft, and Aerens has its Gold and Wedding Souk spread over 2 million square feet.

Right now, the city has no luxury hotels barring the Park Plaza, but MBD is building a hotel and Park too is planning another one in the city. An Oberoi property is also in the pipeline in the city. Out of the 15 malls, three are expected to have hotels being developed alongside.

Although not much industrial activity is happening in the city, a few automobile companies are setting up ancillary units in the city near a place called Dhandari Kalan.

The commercial property rates are comparatively low when compared to Chandigarh and Amritsar. But realtors expect that the development of the malls should change the entire structure. Presently, rates for commercial properties are in the range of Rs 3,500-4,500 per sq ft in areas like Feroze Gandhi market.

While rates in upcoming malls are expected to touch Rs 3,200 per sq ft, rental rates will be around Rs 100 per sq ft. Among the poshest markets of the city, Sarabha Nagar has rental values around Rs 80-90 per sq ft per month.

Realtors are banking on NRI money and high disposable incomes to usher in a real estate boom in the city, and are hoping that it will pull retail ventures in the city as well.

The international airport scheduled to come up at Halwara should see development on the outskirts of the city. Though players admit that the market has become stable, it is only a matter of a couple of years before you can expect it to hit the roof .

Source://rediff.com

Real estate boom fuel IT returns' rise

Benefiting from the real estate chandigarh boom and the services sector growth, the number of income tax returns filed from Mohali and its suburbs, right up to Ropar and Nangal, saw a definite growth till March 31 this year as compared to the last fiscal.

Data available with the income tax department shows that while the number of returns from some villages in Chandigarh and parts of Mohali went up from 85,277 in 2005-06 to 90,322 this fiscal year, that of Mohali proper and areas including Kharar, Ropar and Nangal went up from 55,139 in 2005-06 to 60,017.

According to income tax officials, an increase in peoples' income from jobs and business has led to this increase in returns.

Part of the rise is due to better compliance, they said. Though salaried class people settling down in Mohali and around played an important role in the number of returns going up, growth in real estate has definitely added to it.

Arvinder Singh, a Mohali-based property dealer, said, "Many farmers selling off land elsewhere in the state and buying property here had to file returns.

The property boom in Mohali in the last year led to further investments in real estate up till Ropar and Nangal as a ripple effect improving incomes of people."

Sanjay Tyagi, director, Software Technology Parks of India, said many IT and services sector professionals including telecom started living in Mohali.

"This must have contributed to the returnsgoing up,"he explained. Data on Chandigarh, including sectors 1-25, Industrial Area Phase I & II and Manimajra, show increase in the number of returns filed this year went up from 74,001 to 76,639.

In comparison, the number of returns filed in sectors 26 -62 in Chandigarh remained stagnant at 29,187 in 2005-06 to 29,019 this fiscal.
Source://indiatimes.com

Real estate relief for developers

Much has happened after the TOI first reported, on February 26, that the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), directed by the courts, had revoked no objection certificates (NOCs) of all residential projects cleared by it with Annexure P 9 since January 17, 2006.

Now it seems there's some good news in store for developers. The recent ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) notification is going to change the fate of a lot of residential projects and according to sources, project files pending environment clearance at the Centre will be sent back to the respective states.

Under the new notification, building and construction projects under Section 8 (a), more than 20,000 sq. mtrs and less than 1,50,000 sq. mtrs of built up area shall no longer need such clearance.

But townships and area development projects covering an area of more than 50 hectares or built up area of more than 1,50,000 sq. mtrs __ that come under 8(b) __ shall be appraised by state authorities and the Centre will subsequently constitute a three-member committee to give the green signal.

In Punjab, four projects have so far received their papers back from the MoEF saying the projects, covered under the new 2006 Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), don't require an EIA clearance.

Resource://indiatimes.com