New buyers of Greater Noida flats will have to pay extra

LUCKNOW: The approval of the Greater Noida master plan by the statuary body of NCR Planning Board is all set to propel the real estate prices in the region amid indications from developers that they would go for a price revision once the draft gets the final nod from the board.

While prices of existing flat owners waiting for possession of property may not change, new buyers may have to shell out not less than 15% extra. The revision, a developer said, was necessitated by three reasons. First, the region faced a sharp slump in demand for housing by an estimated 30% compared to what was in 2010-11. This was essentially accentuated not only by the litigation (In October 2010, Allahabad high court had stopped construction in areas for which the plan had not been approved by the board) but also recession in the housing industry and the rising material cost. Now, with the draft plan all set to get a final nod, it's time for developers to cover some lost grounds.

Another reason for price increase is a huge sum that the developers have to pay to land owners as per the Allahabad high court order. There are a number of housing projects which would come up only after compensation is being paid. According to government sources, the compensation in the region will escalate by more than 60% percent. Obviously that would also contribute to the price revision,'' said an official.

Finally, the NCRPB statuary committee move to place in the rider of 16% green belt and construction of 20 to 25% of the houses for the economically weaker section (EWS), may also contribute its bit to the price revision on the higher side as builders may pass the burden on to the buyers. There have been a tendency of builders to recover the cost of land allotted to green belt and EWS from the middle or the higher class buyers,'' said a government official in the housing department.

Developers, however, insist of taking extreme caution in deciding price revision. Vice-president of confederation of real estate developers association of India (CREDAI), Anil Sharma said that there was a consensus among the builders about not revising prices of the existing flat owners waiting for possession. Yes, but there could be some revision for the new buyers. But that is only after the board gives the final approval to the master plan,'' he told TOI on Friday. Sharma said that the price revision may not be arbitrary as it may seem. If someone seeks to escalate the price by say 50%, it would make the project unviable. No one will come to buy the house,'' he said.

President of Noida Extension Flat Owners Association, Abhishek Kumar said that the builders should not play a spoilsport after commendable efforts made by the UP government and the Centre. As many as 1.5 lakh families are waiting to get their house in the region. We hope that it will be a smooth sail from here on,'' Kumar said.

Source: articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com