JOIN USKG Layout allottees return sites over 'tight' payment deadline
Hundreds of allottees have surrendered their sites in the newly formed Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout in the last one month, saying the prices are too high and the payment deadline too short.
The development has shocked the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which has formed the housing colony off Magadi Road in western Bengaluru. It says it’s the first time that such a large number of people are surrendering the “precious” sites.
The BDA had issued the final list of 5,000 allottees in October 2016. According to the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout Site Owners’ Welfare Association (NKLSOWA), around 2,500 people have returned the sites. The BDA puts the figure at just 318. BDA Secretary, Basavaraju B A, said acknowledgments had been issued to 318 people who had surrendered their sites.
R Balakrishna (66), president of NKLSOWA, returned the site he had secured in five attempts. “It’s difficult for me to get a bank loan. The BDA asked me to give an affidavit stating that I live in a rented home, knowing fully that I live with my son in a house which is jointly owned by us. I didn’t want to sign any illegal affidavit,” he said.
Kumaraswamy Hiremath (44), the association’s secretary, also returned his site because of financial constraints. “Besides me, nine other allottees returned their sites last week. Between 20 and 30 people are making enquiries or surrendering the sites every day. Almost 70% members of our association, mostly senior citizens, have returned the sites,” he said. The 10-year lease-cum-sale deed clause is also a burden for many, he added.
Jagadish Desai, a 59-year-old bank employee, returned his 50x80 feet site. He said the BDA delayed the site allotment by a year because of which many allottees like him lost out on eligibility for home loans.
“I will retire in another year. My EMI will be more than my pension. Besides, as per bank rules, if I do not construct the house in 18-36 months, the home loan will be converted into a commercial one, where the interest rate will be higher. There is no infrastructure in the layout to begin construction,” he said.
Another allottee complained, “While real estate prices fell following demonetisation, there was no change in the cost of BDA sites. I can pay another Rs 5 lakh and buy a site in a private layout. The BDA has lost its credibility, too. While private layouts are thriving, the BDA takes 10 years to form a layout and hand over the sites, that too without any facilities. It has rigid rules, too. Though the BDA is a government organisation, it has done nothing to help people.”
BDA rules stipulate that the applicant pay 12.5% of the price as deposit while applying for a site. After the allotment, he/she has to pay the remaining amount within 60 days. Allottees have requested the BDA to extend the deadline by six months, but the board meeting held on February 16, 2017, gave them just 60 days more.
Basavaraju said the file was sent to the chief secretary and the additional chief secretary in March. The extended deadline will end in April. He said another file requesting for six months had been sent and the reply was awaited.