Chandigarh housing board’s fresh pitch for freehold conversion of commercial units

September 17, 2022
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Chandigarh housing board's fresh pitch for freehold conversion of commercial units

CHANDIGARH: Even as city residents await a conversion policy for their leasehold commercial properties, the UT administration’s own agency, Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), is finding it hard to get the UT nod for conversion of its own leasehold properties.

In a latest bid to get approval, the CHB has pledged to pay any conversion charges the administration imposes for its properties.

In a letter to the administration, CHB CEO Yashpal Garg has said, “The CHB undertakes to deposit the applicable conversion charges for commercial properties as and when the formula is finalised.”

It was in April when the CHB board of directors in a meeting had decided to sell all residential properties allotted on leasehold basis on freehold basis. The properties were to be sold after depositing applicable conversion charges. Similarly, all commercial properties build by it on land parcels allotted by the administration on leasehold were also to be sold on freehold after approval.

“Most of the properties available with the CHB were given on leasehold basis, and for converting these, the CHB requires administration’s approval and the payment of the conversion charges,” said an official.

After the go0ahead from its directors, the CHB had written to the administration requesting its permission for immediately start selling built-up commercial units on freehold basis.

“The issue has been hanging fire for all these months as the administration is yet to finalise on the formula for charges to be imposed. But for the CHB it is translating into repeated poor response to the auction of its leasehold properties,” said an official.

In its last auction of leasehold properties, only three out of 99 properties got bidders. The poor response was despite the CHB reducing the reserve price by about 15% in comparison to the last e-tender for these units. Similarly, in the auction held in February, it could sell only three of the total 133 leasehold property on offer. In the January, it couldn’t sell even a single leasehold property out of 132.

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