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SC judgment against apartmentalisation a rude shock for 1,000-odd property owners in Chandigarh
Experts say Tuesday’s ruling is bound to bring down property rates in these sectors drastically and also make it difficult for buyers to get bank loans for purchasing these properties
With the Supreme Court (SC) prohibiting the conversion of residential units into floor-wise apartments in Sectors 1 to 30 in Chandigarh, citing heritage status, around 1,000-odd property owners who had either entered into agreements with co-owners or registered with the UT estate office to sell the property stand affected as their agreements have been declared null and void.
Experts say Tuesday’s ruling is bound to bring down property rates in these sectors drastically and also make it difficult for buyers to get bank loans for purchasing these properties.
Kamal Gupta, president of Property Consultant Association, Chandigarh, revealed that around 100 property owners had entered into agreements, memoranda of understanding and settlements, which have been declared null and void after the Apex Court ruling. He said around 900 property owners have also registered with the UT estate office to sell the properties but now they cannot do so.
A buyer, who had recently bought a floor in Sector 8, said, “I spent around ₹3 crore on it, but it has not been registered. Now, I don’t know what to do.”
Chandigarh Property Federation president Kamaljit Singh Panchhi said the property rates in these sectors will dip as no buyers will come here. “Why will people spend money on these uniform structures in Chandigarh when they can well go to Mohali and Panchkula,” he said.
As per petitioners in the case, there are around 60,000 houses in Sectors 1 to 30 and 10% of these have already been converted into apartments and sold further, but the UT administration had found only 900 property owners i.e those who had registered with the estate office.
PS Patwalia, a senior lawyer who was representing the petitioners, said, “It is a path-breaking judgment as the increasing urbanisation was having a disastrous effect, especially in northern sectors.”
Confusion over Manimajra
Since UT administration had in February 2020 declared Manimajra as Sector 13, confusion now prevails whether it will be considered part of the heritage sectors.
An officer concerned said “It is not clear whether Manimajra will be part of heritage sectors or not and we have to take legal opinion on this.”
However former mayor Surinder Singh, who is now working as a property consultant, said, “Manimajra was never a part of heritage sectors and the judgment will not affect Manimajra in any way.”
Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled out that sectors 1 to 30 of Chandigarh carried the heritage status of Le Corbusier zone and therefore conversion of residential houses into floor-wise apartments cannot be permitted in these sectors.
