Hry govt amends housing policy, car-parking made mandatory

Haryana mandates one car-parking space per flat in affordable housing, fixing costs at 10% of apartment price, due to buyer complaints on parking shortages.

The Haryana government has amended its 2013 affordable housing policy, making it mandatory for developers to provide one car-parking space for each flat in all housing projects.

Earlier, providing parking in such projects was left to the discretion of builders.

The government has fixed the parking cost at 10 per cent of the apartment rate. Earlier, providing parking in such projects was left to the discretion of builders.

Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) officials said the change was prompted by multiple complaints from home buyers facing parking shortage in high-density residential condominiums.

According to the amendment signed by additional chief secretary, DTCP, Anurag Agarwal on April 6, each dwelling unit must be allotted one Equivalent Car Space (ECS).

“Available parking space, if any, can be earmarked as free-visitor-car-parking space or two-wheeler parking space. The parking slots shall be clearly marked during building plan sanctions,” it read. 

For projects that have already received a license and approved building plans, the builder must get consent of at least two-third of allottees to implement the rule. However, projects that have already obtained an Occupation Certificate (OC) are exempt, the policy said.

Last month, the state government increased the maximum allotment rates across cities based on the carpet area. As per the revised rates, the maximum allotment rate in Gurugram has been fixed at ₹5,575 per square foot (PSF).

The rate in Sohna and Faridabad is ₹5,450 PSF. The rate in other high and medium potential cities (based on demand and rate of real estate)has been fixed at ₹5,050 PSF, while in low potential towns, the rate is ₹4,250 PSF. The additional charge for a balcony in all cities is ₹1,300 PSF (maximum ₹1.3 lakhs per flat).

A senior DTCP official said that affordable flat of 600 BHK will now cost around ₹35 to ₹36 lakh at an average in Gururgam and the cost for parking space would be additional and range between ₹3.5 to ₹3.6 lakh. “There was need for mandatory car parking policy in affordable projects in the city as majority of households depend on cars for commute,” he said.