The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) Chennai, on Tuesday, hailed the government’s approval for multi-level parking in apartments in the city as a decision that would relieve parking space pressure and enhance the architectural aesthetic in the city by “tucking parking space into the structure”.
Addressing a press conference, CREDAI president Sandeep Mehta said it was important that this permission was in the same building (stilt+2) and not a separate block, as this essentially meant that construction of parking space would no longer be restricted to the stilt floor and was exempt from Floor Space Index norms.
This, he said, was all the more crucial in a city with high coastal proximity like Chennai where prospects for basement parking was both limited and expensive.
Recently, the Housing and Urban Development had, through its order and guidelines, cleared the way for multi level parking in residential apartments in Chennai.
According to the CREDAI president, what this also meant was that apartments could have ample surface area for gardens and landscaping. He ruled out any cost implications for purchasers of apartments with multi-level parking.
Pointing out that the delay in sanctioning multi-level parking in Chennai — whereas it was already in practice in many other cities — had to do with the State’s apprehension over possible misuse of parking space for other activities, Mr. Mehta said this concern had been addressed by the inclusion of clauses in the conveyance document given to purchasers that empowered the CMDA to take over the property in case of any misuse of space meant for parking.
However, while the step was indeed welcome, Mr. Mehta felt that at the moment, there was a lack of clarity among the community of builders and promoters on whether this relaxation of rules would apply to mixed residential entities.
