The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : TNHB reworking prices to clear unsold units realty check

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Tuesday, Jun 23, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

TNHB reworking prices to clear unsold units realty check

Aloysius Xavier Lopez

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) is reworking the prices of its properties, in order to sell around 6,000 unsold housing units in different localities in the city.

“There will be a substantial reduction in the prices by the TNHB,” said one of its senior officials. The TNHB has planned a better pricing and marketing strategy and the formula has been suggested to the government for approval.

The decision comes in the wake of reluctance shown by many prospective buyers to purchase at the old rates in the past few months. The official attributed the trend to the impact of the economic slowdown. “We too were hit by the economic slowdown. As the prices were not acceptable to the people, we had to rework,” said an official.

Any reduction in the service tax and stamp duty and concession for cement industry will also help the Board meet the housing needs of people better, he added.

Four joint venture initiatives of the TNHB are also expected to be finalised shortly in and around Chennai. “They are in an advanced stage,” the official said. The Tamil Nadu Housing Board Act 1961 was amended to facilitate construction of housing units under the joint venture/private public partnership mode. The model would help inject innovative technology into the Board’s housing initiatives.

Locations such as K. K. Nagar, Villivakkam, Nerkundram, Kizhmudalambedu, Ambattur and Sholinganallur have been identified in and around the city for the joint venture projects. The joint venture initiative has the potential to add around 20,000 units to the housing stock in two years, according to another official of the TNHB.

The Board is planning to enter into joint ventures with landowners instead of acquiring or directly purchasing land. As legal hurdles in land acquisition have been increasing, the TNHB is exploring new ways for contributing to the increase in good and affordable housing stock, an official said.

The TNHB is working on a model of providing good and affordable housing units at a price of around Rs.5-6 lakh.

“We would like to reduce the prices of houses to the lowest possible to help the common man,” he added.

Proper mix of cross subsidy and better construction technology will be helpful in attaining our goal of making housing affordable in the city, the official said.

The low-income group housing units have been cross-subsidised by the TNHB in the past too.

Initiatives, including the development of the concrete plant on a joint venture, will be helpful in the process of supporting affordable housing, the official added. “It has been put on fast track,” the official added.

The proposal to demolish and reconstruct housing board property will provide an opportunity to have more housing units with an increased Floor Space Index (FSI), said an official.

He mentioned an old project in which the FSI was around 0.5. The demolition of the 5.15 lakh sq.ft structures and reconstruction will add 27.39 lakh sq.ft to the housing stock, said the official.

With proper orientation for the well-trained manpower of the TNHB, the organisation will be able to undertake innovative housing projects, said the official.

Many organisations have entrusted their work of construction of integrated complexes including housing projects to the housing board, said the official. A 70-crore project of the ONGC is one of them done by the TNHB, he added.

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