House full! 819 bag MHADA houses in Mumbai

79 applicants in the race for every flat being sold; list of winners will be released on Mhada website after 6pm

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) conducted its lottery on Friday, selecting the winners of 819 affordable houses.

A Mhada housing colony in Mumbai. (HT File)

With 65,126 applicants this time, an average of 79 people were vying for each house.

At Rangsharda Hall in Bandra, winners rejoiced, while those who were unsuccessful said they would try again.

Mohan Koli, 37, got lucky on his tenth attempt, winning a house worth Rs40 lakh in Goregaon. He said he had been applying for a house since 2009. “Salaried people such as myself have no alternative but to apply for MHADA flats. I was dejected every year, but kept hoping I would be lucky one day,” he said.

Sugandhabai Kurade, 65, emerged victorious this year, after applying for the past five years. “My patience has finally paid off. As of today, I own a house in Mumbai,” said Kurade.

The flats up for grabs included those at Lower Parel, Powai, Sion’s Pratiksha Nagar, Chandivli, Mankhurd, Siddhartha Nagar in Goregaon, Magathane, Charkop and Malwani in Malad. For the first time, MHADA’s prices breached the Rs1-crore mark.

MHADA webcasted the draw, which was viewed by 15,000 people. A video on Facebook garnered 20,000 views.

State minister of housing Ravindra Waikar said MHADA would ensure that the winners get good quality houses. “If any of the winners are dissatisfied, we will repair the houses,” he said.

MHADA houses are popular. Over the past 10 draws, 14.13 lakh applicants applied for 23,742 houses.

Box 1

Why MHADA Houses are in demand

1)MHADA houses are cheaper compared to those constructed by private builders.

2)MHADA lands have clear titles.

3)MHADA charges on Carpet area unlike private builders who charge on built up.

4)MHADA ensures Occupation Certificate (OC) for its buildings unlike many private builders who exit the project leaving buyers in the lurch.

BOX 2

MHADA houses are a great attraction which can be gauged from the fact that in the last nine draws, more than 14.13 lakh applicants tried their luck for the 23742 houses put on the block.

Year Number of houses Applicants

2008 870 65640

2009 3863 4.30 lakh

2010 3449 3.28 lakh

2011 4034 1.40 lakh

2012 2593 1.38 lakh

2013 1244 87647

2014264193103

2015 1063 1.25 lakh

2016 42751.30 lakh

2017 819 65,126