Chandigarh admn revokes conditions on resale of defence colony properties

In a major relief to the allottees of freehold residential plots on concessional rates, the UT administration has removed the condition of 15-year lock-in period on the resale and transfer of properties.

What’s more, allottees will no longer have to pay to the administration one-third of unearned profits on the resale of such a property.

The administration on June 8 notified the Chandigarh Estate (Amendment) Rules, 2020, replacing the existing Rule 7, sub-rule (I) with new rules.

Before the latest notification, the allottees could not transfer or sell their properties until the completion of 15 years of possession. At the time of the transfer of the property, they had to pay to the administration one-third of the unearned increase in the value (the difference between the price paid by the original allottee/lessee and the market value/collector rate of the site at the time of permission of transfer).

The new relaxation will be applicable only if the allottees have paid fully the cost of the plot to the administration.

“There was strong opposition from the allottees, and many people had even approached the courts. Now, the administration has made the necessary relaxations,” said a senior UT official. EVen the courts had asked UT to relax the rules.

The major beneficiaries of the new order are the allottees in defence sectors of 33, 34 and 35 that were allotted to defence personnel. “These were also known as defence colonies. The order will also benefit those group housing societies where plots were allotted on a freehold basis but on concessional rates,” said Sanjay Arora, a city-based realtor.