HINDUSTAN TIMES, NEW DELHI, SATURDAY JANUARY 28, 2012

Unsold inventory stands at 40% of launched units. Affordable and mid-segment housing categories have the highest absorption rates
HT Estates Correspondent

Few takers for new homes in NCR

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Diwakar Sharma, director, Shubhkamna-Advert, says, Our company is committed to delivering state-of-the-art projects in NCR and we assure you that Livia, when completed, will usher in new concepts in luxury living. The project is spread over five acres. Promoting the project are star couple Hussain Kuwajerwala (of Nach Baliye and Zangoora fame) and his wife Tina Kuwajerwala. Shubhkamna-Advert Group hascompleted group housing projects in Noida and Gurgaon. Over 1000 families are currently residing in their projects in Vigyan Vihar, Gurgaon, Jagdambe Apartments, Kartik Kunj, Shramdeep Apartments and Shubhkamna apartments in Noida.

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New project launched in Greater Noida
Shubhkamna Advert and Realcraft Group recently launched Livia, their new residential project in Greater Noida. Livia is situated adjacent to

Yamuna Expressway and has amenities such as a club, swimming pool, gymnasium, jogging track, table tennis and lawn tennis courts, among others. It offers sprawling ultra-modern residential 2, 3 and 4 BHK and studio apartments built to maximise space utilisation. The project is promoted by Shubhkamna-Advert and Realcraft.

early 359,200 residential units are under construction in the NCR and about 50% of this supply will be ready for possession by the end of 2013. Unsold inventory currently stands at 40% of launched units, says a report. While residential property price appreciated between 10-30% in 2010 across major cities like Mumbai, NCR, Bangalore and Chennai, it declined by 10% in 2011. New project launches, too, remained few and far between in the last year. During 2010, 361,098 residential units were launched across the top seven cities of Mumbai, NCR, Pune, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. However, 2011 saw just 172,856 launches, a decline of 52% from the year before. Moreover, of the total housing inventory pertaining to under-construction projects, 39% or 306,859 units are lying unsold. A substantial portion of this belongs to the NCR market, says a residential report by Knight Frank titled Economy and Realty @Glance. Noida and Greater Noida constitute nearly 62% of the upcoming supply, most of which is in the affordable and mid-segment housing. A number of projects that were slated for completion in the second half of last year have been delayed due to a cash crunch faced by developers. The drop in sales volume in the last quarter has also impacted the capital availability of developers. Transaction volumes have gone down by 6% in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the second quarter. Nearly 79% of the absorption has been in the affordable and mid-segment housing. Since most of these projects, in the range of R25004500 per sq ft are located in Noida and Greater Noida and new sectors of Gurgaon, these are the areas that have seen maximum absorption. Even though the overall market has shown a negative growth in sales volume, sales

in Noida have gone up by 13%. Gurgaons sales volume has also remained stable and not shown any negative growth. Faridabad showed the biggest drop in sales of 38% in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the second quarter. One of the biggest reasons for this is a lack of new project launches in Faridabad during the third quarter. Most of the projects under construction are delayed. Based on absorption trends, unsold inventory in Greater Noida will be absorbed in six quarters, whereas Gurgaon and Noida will take approximately four quarters. Unstable macro-economic conditions have affected consumer confidence and sentiments, which in turn have affected demand and led to limited increase in quarteron-quarter prices. However, the NCR has fared better than other metros and has not seen a drop in prices.

No disasters reported
Even though the NoidaGreater Noida markets have shown negative growth in their overall sales volume, sales in Noida have gone up by 13% Sales volumes in Gurgaon have also remained stable and not shown any negative growth Faridabad showed the biggest drop in sales of 38% in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the second quarter Based on the absorption trends, unsold inventory in Greater Noida will be absorbed in six quarters whereas Gurgaon and Noida will take approximately four quarters

The reason for this could be attributed to the uniqueness of the NCR market because investors play an important role in it. Even though end-users are cautious and waiting for interest rates to drop, investors have no inhibitions about investing in the market. This has kept prices stable. Locations like Jor Bagh and Golf Links have shown a price increase of 15-20% compared to the third quarter of 2010 and command highest the capital values of R60,000-

85,000 per sq ft. Greater Kailash I and II have shown an appreciation of 25% compared to the third quarter in 2010, which can be attributed to an increase in circle rates of up to 250% and limited supply in these locations. Gurgaon recorded an increase in the range of 25% compared to the third quarter of 2010, as a number of projects in locations like Golf Course Road and Sohna Road are nearing completion. This has led to an increase in prices here, the report added.

Heres what you need to know about MCDs mixed use rules for commercial activity in residences
Vivek Kohli

Working out of a house?

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here are a set of rules and regulations governing commercial activities that are permissible in a residential property. In Delhi, these rules are covered under the comprehensive Mixed Use Regulations in the Master Plan Delhi (MPD) 2021. In brief, commercial/ nonresidential usage of residential premises is termed as mixed use. By allowing mixed use of properties, specified professionals can set up offices at their residences and residents can enjoy access to essential commercial facilities such as banks, clinics, crches, coaching centres, etc in the vicinity. This is especially useful in metropolitan cities where only limited resources are available to meet the needs of residents. Allowing mixed use is beneficial from the town-planning perspective, as communities can meet their daily needs without having to travel long distances. As per the MPD, mixed use is permissible under the three heads commercial activities, professional activities and other activities. However, only one kind of mixed use activity is allowed in one dwelling unit at a time. Activities involving obnoxious, hazardous, inflammable and polluting substances are not permissible. Moreover, residential premises proposed for mixed use must comply with local building bye-laws, structural safety norms, fire safety clearance and other relevant statutes. For those who are currently running commercial activities within their house, the

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LEGAL REMEDIES
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has recently launched a special drive to survey properties in the city which are being used for commercial or mixed-use purposes with effect from December 14, 2011. It has also issued a public notice in this regard. As part of its survey, MCD staff will visit properties, produce their identity card and inform the residents of the purpose of their visit. MCD staff will also hand over a form to the owners/ occupants of such properties. The form requires relevant details of the property such as the property number, name of the road it is located on, name and category of the residential colony, the exact area under mixed use/commercial use, to name a few. The owner/ occupant will be required to fill this form and return it to MCD within two days. For any assistance and queries regarding this survey, the deputy commissioner and

the executive engineer (buildings) of the respective zone may be contacted. People who wish to start commercial activities from their residential premises are required to submit an application in the prescribed format along with one-time registration charges to the concerned local body. To avail continued mixed use of premises, one is also required to pay applicable mixed use charges every year to the local competent authority. Such annual mixed use charges, along with parking charges and registration charges, are to be paid on or before June 30 of every year in respect of the previous assessment year (April 1 to March 31). In Delhi, properties found under mixed use without such registration may incur penalty amounting to 10 times the annual charges for mixed use.
The author is senior partner, ZEUS Law Associates, a corporate commercial law firm. One of its areas of specialisation is real estate transaction and litigation work

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