Ban on building independent floors on plots to go

CHANDIGARH: To boost real estate sector in the state and earn more revenue, the Punjab local government department is all set to lift the ban on construction of independent floors on individual plots by builders. This has been a major demand of small builders in the state.

The department had banned passing maps of these buildings categorised as ‘ground plus two floors’ and ‘stilt plus three floors’ on July 2, 2019. Stilt plus three floors mean the ground floor will be meant for parking.

“The builders/ developers get plans sanctioned for a row of contagious units by showing each as a separate unit, whereas in reality they are part of a larger project,” the then director local bodies, Karunesh Sharma had said.

Small builders have been resentful over this move and had given numerous representations to local bodies minister Brahm Mohindra, after which the department has now decided to review the decision. According to the department’s calculations, pending maps of these floors can earn the department

Rs 40-50 crore in the form of various charges

“By allowing this activity, the department aims to give a push to the depressed construction sector. A boom in construction can boost economy, especially in times of covid-19. I have directed officials to make sure all rules are followed while allowing such construction. I am also holding a meeting with big builders soon to sort out all issues,” said Mohindra.

A senior department functionary said these constructions had been allowed only after taking legal opinion. “Interestingly, the department’s letter last year had no mention of ban on Ground plus two floors. Now, because other categories were banned, ULBs had also banned Ground plus two floors,” a senior official claimed.

This officer claimed that now the department has decided to issue a clarification to the ULBs to allow construction and has defined few new rules, with the local bodies director to issue formal orders.

MANDATORY RERA REGISTRATION AMONG NEW RULES

As per the draft of the clarification, while allowing this activity, the new rules say the ULBs must ensure that there is no violation of building bylaws and every such project should be registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA). Another guideline is that builder must obtain Change of Land Use (CLU) and licence for the purpose and there should not be any violation of RERA and the layout plan must be approved by the Competent Authority before construction of such independent floors.

The builder has to pay external development charges, CLU licence and processing fee charges as applicable to the Group Housing Projects and there should be no financial loss to the local bodies and the state government.

LOCAL BODIES DEPT HAD BANNED PASSING MAPS OF THESE BUILDINGS CATEGORISED AS ‘GROUND PLUS TWO FLOORS’ AND ‘STILT PLUS THREE FLOORS’ IN JULY LAST YEAR