Real estate sector begins 2013 with licence slump

After a deluge of housing projects in the Millennium City over the past few years, 2013 may be different, Sanjeev K Ahuja reports.

After a deluge of housing projects in the Millennium City over the past few years, 2013 may be different.

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According to the Directorate Town & Country Planning (DTCP) department, against an average of eight-nine licence applications a month by private developers since 2010, only one application was received for a residential project this year.

Out of five licences issued in January and February, three were commercial, one for a residential high-rise and the fifth for extension of an existing plotted colony. In January, not a single licence was issued for a residential project. Both licences issued that month were for commercial projects.

In February, one licence was issued for a residential high-rise project to Emaar MGF to be built across 10.7 acres of land in Sector 112. This project would offer around 500 housing units. Another licence was issued to Vipul for extension of its existing plotted township in Sector 48 by about one acre. The third licence issued in February was for a commercial project.

Setting aside abundant supply of housing options at present, Navin Raheja, CMD of Raheja Group, said the Haryana government has run out of the statutory minimum licence quota of 20% of the land size in the notified zone.

“About four lakh housing units, with a majority being high-rise apartments, are likely to come up on 6,000 acres of land. Now, the state government has run out of the quota for high-rise licences in the Gurgaon Master Plan 2031.

Apart from restricted supply in the apartment category, independent plots/freehold houses will also reflect the same trend as most developers would not qualify for the minimum 100 acres requirement for plotted townships,” Raheja added. He is also president of the National Real Estate Development Council.

DTCP issued 600 licences to developers for sectors 1-57 between 1981 and 2007. The first licence was issued to DLF Universals Limited on April 20, 1981 for a plotted township across 160 acres of land in Sector 24, 25 and 25A. The department issued 655 more licences to developers between 2008 and 2012 for about 8,000 acres of land in Sectors (58-115), part of the Gurgaon Master Plan 2031.

In 2009, the department registered 89 licences against an yearly average of 110. On the other hand, a record number of 210 licences were awarded in 2008.