With few takers, BDA relaxes domicile norm for buying flats

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People from outside state need to have lived here for 5 years to buy a site, flat in city
For allotment of its sites, BDA has certain criteria like number of years the applicant has resided in the state, number of attempts they have made, and different reservation groups they may represent.The same holds good for availing of BDA flats.
These criteria though, made it almost impossible for an outsider, who may have come here for a career, to be eligible for a BDA site or flat.This has certainly been affecting BDA's market, at least as far as the sale of its flats is concerned. To attract more buyers BDA has now decided to relax the criteria of number of years for outsiders to have lived in the state from 15 to five years. Over a period of time, big builders in the city have started huge projects to evolve the flat culture. But the BDA, which is the only source of sites at a subsidised price, does not have many sites to sell. So the development authority mooted the idea to start the construction of residential apartments, to accommodate citizens in various localities of the city.

However, the criteria were the applicant should be a domicile of Karnataka for not less than 15 years prior to registration made it difficult for outsiders to purchase these subsidised flats. To facilitate outsiders, BDA has relaxed that all-important number to five years. BDA, engineer member, PN Nayak, said, “Bengaluru is a metropolitan city. Everyone needs a shelter of their own.Many people who have come from other states find it difficult to own property here, so BDA decided to relax the rules. Outsiders find it difficult to buy flats from private builders, which charge exorbitant prices compared to us.“

Many localities prefer BDA sites, because they can sell them at a higher price after a few years. “With more constructions of houses by allottees, will come more infrastructural development.Also, an apartment offers more security. Outsiders do not like to invest on land as they do not have the time to look after construction activity, so they prefer to purchase flats,“ said Raghu Kumar, a BDA flat allottee.

NOTIFICATION OF 3,000 FLATS SOON

“A letter by a gazetted officer, DC or the local MPMLA stating that the applicant is residing in our state for so many years should be addressed to us. Only then, an outsider living for five years here can apply for a site or flat. BDA has recently notified the availability of 3,280 flats.Other than that, there are 3,000 flats under construction, which will also be notified,“ BDA engineer officer Gowdiaha NG said.

“We are waiting for the government to issue the circular of relaxation of domicile state residence for out siders. Our ongoing projects are those in Kanminike on Mysore Road, Komaghatta, Doddabanhalli in KR Puram and in Alur. So far, not more than 5% people from outside have opted for flats. Most of our buildings are high-rises, which we do not hand over without ensuring quality, so many people have a misconception about the quality of our construction,“ he added.

When asked if it was the lesser demand for BDAconstructed flats that made the authority relax the minimum number of years for outsiders, Gowdiaha said, “We are not doing any business, so there is no question of less demand for our flats. If there is demand, we will construct; if not, we will slow down.“