3,000 Mhada flats up for grabs in 2012

Don’t despair if you are not among the lucky ones to be allotted an affordable flat from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) on Tuesday.

Don’t despair if you are not among the lucky ones to be allotted an affordable flat from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) on Tuesday. Applicants can try their luck with the approximately 3,000 houses the housing body plans to put for sale next year.

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While 1,400 flats will be available in the middle-income and high-income categories, the biggest chunk – 1,600 – is likely to be earmarked for the economically backward and low-income groups.

Amarjit Singh Manhas, chairman, Mhada (Mumbai board), said currently 2,229 houses are under construction across the city. “We have already prepared a plan for the next year’s lottery,” he said. In 2012, you can expect flats to be made available in Powai, Magathane, Dahisar, Gorai and Sion. There are indications that the lottery draw will be held in November and not May next year, to ensure that more houses are up for sale.

Manhas clarified that the online application and result systems will be in place next year too. In the past four years, the Mhada has held lottery draws for a total of 12,216 houses. There’s huge demand for flats built by the housing body as they are sold at half the prices that private builders charge.

In addition, the Mhada rates are on the basis of the carpet area (actual area of the flat) unlike private developers, who charge on the super built-up area, which includes common areas of the building.

“There is a tremendous gap between demand and supply and such small numbers will hardly help people who want to buy flats,” said Shreedhar Sharma, president, Ravathy Foundation, an NGO.

“The Mhada should exploit the opportunity to redevelop its colonies and create a handsome housing stock.”