New policy to rein in guest houses
Guest houses constructed on less than 1,000 sq yard will be deemed illegal; no provision for paying guest accommodation in high-rises, Sanjeev K Ahuja reports.
In a move which could come as a shocker for the owners of guest houses, the Haryana government for the first time framed a policy to regulate the functioning of guest houses in residential areas.
The policy states that only those guest houses constructed on 1,000 sq yard and 2,000 sq yard will be allowed to function against specified commercial conversion fees.
With this, guest houses constructed on 500 sq yard or less-sized plots in Gurgaon will be deemed illegal.
As per an estimate, of the total of 2,000 guest houses in the city, less than 100 are constructed on 1,000 sq yard plots. The remaining are built on 500 sq yard and plots of smaller sizes.
The new policy has also put the fate of guest houses in high-rise buildings in jeopardy.
The new policy does not have a provision for apartments in high-rise structures.
Hundreds of guest houses running from the premises of gated communities will be termed as unauthorised.
“As the state is yet to formulate a regulatory policy on paying guest (PG) accommodations, these units continue to operate illegally in Gurgaon,” said an official.
SS Dhillon, principal secretary, Town and Country Planning, told Hindustan Times, “All guest houses other than those operating out of less than 1,000 sq yard plots will be deemed to be illegal.”
However, in its bid to save civic infrastructure from being affected, the policy allows 5,000 sq yards as the maximum permissible area for such guesthouses in a single sector. This means that a maximum of five guest houses will be allowed to operate in one sector.
The applicants will be issued permission on the basis of “first-come-first-serve” basis.
Police officials said legal guesthouses should be located on a sector road with the functional service roads.
Officials said permission will be given to guest houses in localities developed under the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) and private builders only if services like roads, sewerage system and water supply are available.
On Thursday, deputy commissioner PC Meena directed Huda officials to seal all guesthouses and paying guest (PG) accommodations in Huda sectors. He also asked the officers to serve resumption (confiscation) notices to such plot owners. Meena said the owners of these plots were availing all civic amenities like electricity, drinking water etc at subsidised rates which are made available by the government in residential sectors.
“These commercial activities disturb the peaceful ambience in the residential sectors,” the DC said.
Meena said if any guest house or PG was found to be running in any residential Huda sector, responsibility will be fixed on the area officer concerned.
“The area Huda officers were empowered to serve notices to the errant plot owners to know why commercial activities are being run from their plots without permission,” he added.
Meena also said Huda issued ‘non-nuisance certificate’ for taking up commercial activities in residential sectors like opening of offices but in that case too, commercial use was not allowed for more than 25% space on the ground floor.
“Even using an entire house for the purpose of property dealing is against the rules,” he added.
Meanwhile, estate officer of Huda-2, Manoj Khatri, said nearly 125 PGs and guest houses were being run under his jurisdiction.
“Nearly 17 PGs and guest houses are running in Sector 46 alone, while 15 are operating in Sector 38. Likewise, 14 PGs and guest houses are functioning in Sector 40 and 12 in Sector 27,” the estate officer added.
