Township project to come up at Tiruvallur district in Tamil Nadu

Chennai

The state government is keen on going ahead with the 2,160 crore Thirumazhisai township project in neighbouring Tiruvallur district. An exclusive division office, set up recently near Poonamallee, would help speed up the process of land acquisition, sources said. “The staff will help hold negotiations with the villagers and ensure smooth execution of the programme that has been marred by controversies,” a senior official said.

With the help of the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure and Financial Services Limited, the Tamil Nadu Housing Board zeroed in on a consultant to build the integrated township on 311.05 acres. Lands spread across Kuthambakkam, Narasingapuram, Pravatharajapuram and Vellavedu villages have been acquired. The project, which has been affected by protests since it was announced in 1996, will have 12,000 units.

The township was originally planned to be constructed on 2,500 acres, but shrunk to 476 acres in 2006 and by the time the AIADMK government granted sanction in 2011, the land had been scaled down to 311.05 acres. “A meeting will soon be held with the villagers on getting 12.87 acres for laying approach roads,” a TNHB official said. The township, to come up close to the Chennai-Bangalore national highway, is aimed at helping middle-income families, who are otherwise at the mercy of landlords in city.

Source: The Times of India, Chennai

TNHB gearing up for redevelopment

Chennai

The redevelopment exercise that gained momentum ever since the city land prices soared is now entering a new phase. The Tamil Nadu Housing Board itself will develop the 15 projects across the city in areas like Mandaveli, CIT Nagar in Nandanam, Anna Nagar and a few other areas. Bids have been invited to build the housing projects on PPP model which is riveting the attention of the state government to tie up with private sector for housing development.

In a related development, those who own lands bought earlier through TNHB allotment, are also keen to tie-up with the board for joint venture development. An announcement in this regard drew encouraging response from the plot owners, according to official sources.

This is apart from the private sector development across the city where developers have tied up with TNHB apartment owners’ association at strategic locations. As the board has spent for infrastructure earlier, they are now charging for enhanced area development by way of premium FSI to issue no-objection certificate.

A similar exercise would be carried out in Coimbatore in areas like Kaundampalayam, Uppilipalayam and Singanallur where housing board colonies including rental housing schemes are in place. An estimated 200 unit would be developed on PPP model.

Though no development is proposed in Madurai as of now, a study is being initiated to ascertain the condition of the building, age, present construction scenario and current development control norms to explore utilising the additional FSI.

On the flip side, it is not a cake walk for the TNHB despite a major initiative to boost the redevelopment exercise across the state. An estimated 40 per cent of the apartment owners in city areas are reluctant to move out of their existing premises having lived for 30-40 years. The efforts to convince them on the long-term gain of living a larger area and new construction did not yield the desired results so far, say officials.

The TNHB still holds land areas and some of them are embroiled in litigation and there are even pockets of land for which there is no direct access and negotiation has to be done with the private land owners for development.

During the years 1996-2006, the TNHB was lying low due to accumulation of unsold stocks and since then the board has cleared 75 per cent of the stocks in the categories of apartments, houses and plots.

The government had announced earlier of a satellite township in Thirumazhisai at a cost of Rs 2,160 crore on 311.05 acres on land owned by the TNHB. Over 12,000 units will be built and made available to the EWS and LIG and MIG. The project has reached a crucial phase now in land acquisition, say official sources. An estimated 12 acre land involving the access road from the NH4 to the site is in the process of acquisition.

V Nagarajan, Property Consultant

Source: http://content.magicbricks.com/tnhb-gearing-up-for-redevelopment

TNHB to undertake redevelopment projects

Chennai

The spurt in redevelopment of housing board projects across the city has taken a new twist with the housing board itself taking on the mantle to develop residential complexes. So far, private developers have clinched joint development deals with the resident associations. An estimated 10 projects across the city are under development while others are under varying stages of negotiation to arrive at mutually beneficial formula.

For the first time, the Tamil Nadu Housing Board itself has been approached by the people in Coimbatore to undertake development on their behalf. The TNHB is planning to take up the redevelopment of housing board tenement in Singanallur on a 12 acre land comprising 960 units ranging in size from 260 sq ft to 450 sq ft.

In Chennai alone, the TNHB had developed over 1000 acres of land over a period of three decades and most of the units are now awaiting an opportune moment for redevelopment. It is a Herculean task to bring all the apartment owners to the negotiation table as it took many years for the private developers to clinch deals, according to industry sources who have been monitoring the redevelopment for several years now.

While the strategic locations prompted private developers to undertake redevelopment, the warring groups and the stringent conditions imposed by the existing owners eluded a final solution in many projects, say industry sources.

The redevelopment got a boost due to enhanced FSI eligibility as a result of the liberalised development control norms in the second master plan. When the TNHB took the development years ago, the FSI was less than 1. Now the second master plan enables them to get increased FSI ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 depending on the road width, plot area frontage, etc. As a result of the redevelopment, the owners will be entitled to get extra built-up area at competitive prices.

The development by TNHB itself will generate more confidence among existing flat owners. In the changing scenario, the TNHB is keen to introduce modern amenities in keeping with the changing times and the growing needs of households. Besides, the board is also keen to enhance the quality of construction with the availability of a wide range of building materials at competitive prices, according to official sources.

The board is also keen to pay the rentals during the reconstruction period for all the flat owners just like the proposals being implemented by the private developers. In addition the TNHB is exploring the possibilities to develop the units through PPP model.

The redevelopment exercise by TNHB itself will be in direct competition with the private developers who have already stuck deals with associations in select projects in city areas. There has been mixed reaction to the joint development exercise with some land owners stuck with private developers over the inordinate delay in completing the project on time. But, TNHB’s initiative will herald a new era and people may feel more comfortable to deal with government agencies as it is a win-win situation for both. According to official sources, the response so far has been overwhelming from the housing board flat owners across the state.

V Nagarajan, Property Consultant

Source: http://content.magicbricks.com/tnhb-to-undertake-redevelopment-projects

Redevelopment of TNHB buildings caught in legal battle

Chennai

Redevelopment plans for around 50 apartments, originally promoted by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) in areas like Besant Nagar, Adyar, Anna Nagar and Shanthi Colony, are stuck in legal battles. What’s worse, many apartment complexes have already been razed and the owners are staying in rented premises waiting to move into their new houses.

The dispute between the apartment owners and the TNHB is over a premium (10% cost of the extra floor space index — FSI is the ratio of land area to the builtup area) that the latter is demanding for issuing no-objection certificates (NOC) for the redevelopment.

As the TNHB had underutilized FSI, many developers have shown interest in redeveloping such complexes, either through outright purchase or through joint-venture deals, with a view to capitalizing on the additional permissible FSI. This had led to a steep hike in the prices of old TNHB apartments in the city in recent years.

Since the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and the Chennai Corporation are not issuing plan approvals and building permits without an NOC from TNHB, redevelopment work on several projects is stuck.

The issue, which came up in various courts, has now been referred to a full bench of the Madras HC.

Source: The Times of India, Chennai

TN government promotes affordable housing

Chennai

With the soaring land prices, input and material costs, lower income groups (LIG) and middle income groups (MIG) are among the worst hit across the state to get their dream homes. While private developers focus on apartments above Rs 30 lakh, there are limited players to focus on LIG and MIG categories.

The Tamil Nadu Housing Board which has land parcels across the state could not do much to provide shelters due to inherent limitations to do residential projects.

However, in a significant development, the state government is now gearing up to mobilise all its resources to enter the area of housing development, according to senior government officials. First, the objective is to go for public-private partnership model (PPP), and float an open tender by inviting private developers to construct apartments and commercial complexes in order to enable them share the developmental proceeds with the TNHB.

The TNHB land ownership limit had dwindled to just 300 acres across the state over the years with 1,600 acres embroiled in legal procedures. It is not far off that the board may even exhaust this land in the coming years, it is felt.

Among other measures include a transparent system whereby the government would develop 30 per cent of the land area besides additional 10% by undertaking the entire construction of the housing complex.

Land pooling is yet another concept whereby 50% of the land area would be acquired at market value from the landowners. The government will undertake to develop the land and provide 20% to 30% of the built-up area to the landowners apart from offering cash incentives.

The government has already announced a satellite township scheme in Thirumazhisai at a cost of Rs 2,160 crore to be developed on 311.05 acres of land owned by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board. The township would include villages like Chembarambakkam, Kuthambakkam, Parvatharajapuram, Narasingapuram and Vellavedu. In all 12,000 flats will be constructed and made available to the economically weaker section and low and middle income groups.

Further negotiations will be held with the land owners to acquire 12.87 acres to create an approach road to the satellite town for providing basic infrastructure facilities.

Source: http://content.magicbricks.com/tn-government-promotes-affordable-housing