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Chandigarh Housing Board to auction unsold leasehold commercial units as freehold
A total of 98 commercial properties are lying unsold with Chandigarh Housing Board, some even 44 years old, according to board CEO Yashpal Garg
Having secured the go-ahead from the UT administration, the Chandigarh Housing Board will now auction all its unsold leasehold commercial properties, including the larger plots in Chandigarh IT Park, as freehold.
CHB CEO Yashpal Garg, said, “A total of 98 commercial properties are lying unsold with CHB, some even 44 years old. While CHB has been incurring expenditure on their repair and maintenance, they could not be sold on leasehold despite being put on sale around 10 times in the last one year.”
Among the unsold properties are also a 4.5-acre institutional plot, a 8.23-acre hospital site, a 5-acre hotel site and a 5.05-acre commercial complex site, all at the IT Park.
A review meeting on these issues was held here on Monday. At the meeting, held under the chairmanship of UT adviser Dharam Pal, it was decided that the condition stipulating that non-residential properties can only be sold on leasehold basis be removed from the conveyance deed of 123.79 acres of land at IT Park.
Thereafter, CHB should immediately take action for sale of the non-residential plots on freehold basis.
In the meeting, it was also decided, all residential properties, built by CHB on leased land parcels, may immediately be sold on freehold basis after depositing applicable conversion charges in accordance with the decision already taken on a separate file.
All commercial properties built by CHB on the land parcels allotted by the administration on leasehold basis may also be sold on freehold basis after approval from the UT administrator. However, the formula for computation of conversion charges in respect of commercial properties has yet to be finalised. CHB will deposit the applicable conversion charges as and when the formula is finalised.
On March 8, the CHB board of directors, in its 425th meeting, had decided to sell all built-up properties and land sites/plots, where the land was allotted to it on leasehold basis, on freehold and sought the administration’s approval for it.
Freehold properties get higher bids
Two commercial properties in Sector 51-A, which were earlier offered on leasehold basis but couldn’t get any buyers, were put up for auction on freehold basis in the last auction that concluded on April 19.
Their reserve prices were increased after conversion from leasehold to freehold. One such property’s reserve price was increased from ₹44 lakh to ₹80 lakh and it was sold for ₹80.21 lakh. The second property, whose reserve price was increased from ₹53.39 lakh to ₹90 lakh, was successfully auctioned for ₹90.05 lakh.
Box: 35 properties up for grabs
CHB has invited e-bids for the sale of 35 commercial and residential units on freehold basis. The bid submission will start at 10 am on April 26, with a May 25 deadline.
The properties on offer include 29 residential and six commercial.
The six commercial properties (booths) are available in Sector 51-A. Four have a reserve price of ₹80 lakh each, while the remaining two are priced at ₹85 lakh each.
Among the 29 residential properties, 17 are in Indira Colony, four in Manimajra, two in Sector 52, two in Sector 63, and one each in Sectors 38 (West), 49 and 40. Their reserve price ranges from ₹24 lakh to ₹98 lakh.
