NEW DELHI: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which has been struggling to dispose of one-bedroom flats since 2014, has decided to sell these unsold units to recipients of gallantry award of defence and paramilitary forces, at concessional rates. The beneficiaries also include war widows and uniformed personnel injured or disabled in action or war.
A senior official, privy to the development, said that the scheme would be restricted to non-commissioned and non-gazetted officials only and flats would be allotted on a first-come-first-serve basis.
The new scheme, which is likely to be launched on August 2, will only be available online. All these units are located in sectors 34 and 35 in Rohini and G 2 and G 8 of Narela. “All applications will be received through the website."
There will be no manual interference. The details of the scheme with the terms and conditions of allotment are available on DDA’s website. The applicants will be required to submit a certificate issued by the ministry of defence, armed forces, or paramilitary military forces to prove their eligibility,” the official said.
The area of the flats under the scheme varies between 33.251 square metres (sqm) and 33.853 sqm approximately. The units will be allotted on a freehold basis and the cost is Rs 7 lakh plus conversion charge of Rs 28, 000,” the official said. Homebuyers have apparently lost interest in DDA’s flats, which were once considered a prized possession. A significant number of allottees had surrendered their flats in 2014 and 2017.
At least 7,000 allottees of DDA’s 2017 scheme returned their houses within 45 days of the draw of lots. In 2014, 8,500 units were surrendered. Most of the DDA flats were rejected by allottees due to lack of civic facilities at the location and also the size of the units.
Since then, the land-owning agency has been making an endeavour to attract buyers for these unsold units. It also tried to sell them in bulk to government agencies and departments including public sector undertakings (PSUs) but failed to clear the inventory. Only, the CISF showed interest and purchased 750 units in 2018.
Soon after the draw for the latest housing scheme on July 23, DDA’s vice-chairman Tarun Kapoor had said that the authority would make attempts to sell unsold flats including EWS category units soon at concessional rates to encourage applicants. The DDA has decided to conduct an online survey under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) to assess the housing demand in the national capital.
Slum-dwellers will not be included in the survey as they are being considered under in-situ slum rehabilitation policy.“After an analysis of the data collected online, all eligible candidates will be considered for subsidy and allotment as per the policy, for the scheme to be launched in future,” a DDA official said.