PUDA’s high-income housing project gets tepid response
The high-end group housing project of Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) at Old Jail Road has received a lukewarm response, while the majority of applicants are non-resident Indians (NRIs).
The high-end group housing project of Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) at Old Jail Road has received a lukewarm response, while the majority of applicants are non-resident Indians (NRIs).
The process of applying for the scheme had started on October 7.An applicant who visited the PUDA office to enquire about the scheme said the prices of flats were too high. It is not possible for the middle-class people to put in their life-long earnings just to buy a flat, he added.
The applicant said people get attracted by government housing project thinking that they will be cheaper than that of private developers, which is not true in many cases.
The project named Splendid Heights, a 22-storeyed flat scheme. The price of a four-bedroom (4BHK) flat covering an area of 2,385 square feet is Rs91.9 lakh, while a three-bedroom (3BHK)flat with a floor area of 1,874 square feet will cost Rs 71.9 lakh.
Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had laid the foundation stone of the project on February 10.
The registration amount for applying for the scheme is Rs4 lakh and Rs6 lakh for three bedroom and four-bedroom flats respectively.
Gurpreet Singh Khehra, PUDA chief administrator, Jalandhar, said, “We have received about 100 applications so far. We are getting a good response from the NRIs but the overall response is not good. We are trying our best to get more applications.”
As many as 490 flats — 382 3BHK apartments and 108 4BHK — are on offer under the project.
The flats will have additional servant room with bathroom. The last date for applying is November 7.
“The overall demand for property in the market is less and hence we are not getting response as expected. If we don’t get enough applications then the deadline may be extended,” Khehra said.
“To promote the project, we are planning a meeting which will be attended by PUDA chief administrator Manvesh Sidhu to chalk out new strategy,” he added.
Realtors and property experts in the city are of the opinion that the flats are overpriced and therefore the scheme is getting a cold response.
The problems applicants recently faced buying plots under various government housing schemes recently has also deterred many from investing, they maintain.
Khehra refuted such claims. PUDA, he says, has a reputation of its own and since the project is top quality, hence the prices are reasonable.
Also the flats will have a lot of open space unlike private housing projects, he added.
He blamed the market mood for the lukewarm response. They will witness a increase in applications as soon as the deadline for registration comes closer, he said.
