Ghaziabad authority to auction more than 1,700 unsold flats for raising Rs300 crore revenue

The properties have failed to find takers due to the slump in real estate, high price, delayed construction or retarded growth in areas around the housing development schemes, officials said.

The Ghaziabad development authority (GDA) will auction over 1,700 flats in its housing projects that were previously unsold through a lottery system to prospective buyers. The properties have remained unsold for years and are expected to be holding up a revenue of nearly Rs250-300 crore for the agency.

Freezing the rate of the unsold properties implies that the authority will not hike its sector rates for such properties further, as it would mean another round of price escalation. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The properties have failed to find takers due to the slump in real estate, high price, delayed construction or retarded growth in areas around the housing development schemes, officials said.

Freezing the rate of the unsold properties implies that the authority will not hike its sector rates for such properties further, as it would mean another round of price escalation.

For the past couple of years, the authority had hiked its sector rates on par with the annual increase in the administration’s circle rate, which led to a price rise of properties, due to which it became tough to find buyers as private developers flourished, sources said.

The GDA’s vice-chairperson Kanchan Verma said that the rates for the unsold properties have been frozen again and these units will soon be put up for sale, as per the prevailing rate.

According to estimates, nearly 50% of the flats are already ready to move in and buyers will be given possession of the property immediately. The flats range from Rs5 lakh to Rs70 lakh.

There are around 700 unsold flats in Madhuban Bapudham, around 375 in Indraprastha, 300 in Koyal Enclave, 158 in Kaushambi, 70 in Chandrashila, 59 in Vaishali and 50 in Modi Nagar schemes.

However, officials failed to point out strong reasons for buyers wanting to invest in unsold flats. Official sources said that they are trying to highlight the positives to make the schemes attractive.

“Some infrastructure development works have taken place in various schemes and we are hopeful that buyers will find them positive to invest in. Also, the possibility of offering the flats to buyers on an easy instalment basis is being considered. We may also opt for offering flats in bulk to different agencies or companies for housing their staff. Measures are being thought of to get rid of the unsold flats,” a senior official said.