Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Indians prefer second-hand property: Study - Economic Times

Indians prefer second-hand property: Study - Economic Times:



MUMBAI: While buying a house, majority of the Indians prefer a ready-to-move property than new launches, a recent study has said.


"About 74 per cent home buyers across India are negotiating for a ready-to-move property," real estate market news portal Track2Realty's survey titled 'Home Buyer's Satisfaction Index' said.


The survey says out of the remaining 26 per cent, who opted for new launches for price discounts, as many as 82 per cent were now repenting their decision, mainly due to delays in the project completion.


The survey was conducted in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Patna.


About 68 per cent of buyers prefer ready-to-move property because they could avail of tax benefits only after getting the possession of the house, it says.


"Saving tax on the EMIs is one of the big reasons why eight out of 10 plan their house buying," it points out.


Around 92 per cent of the respondents agreed that buying under-construction property makes them suffer double blow of paying rent and EMI and not getting any tax benefit.


Nearly 52 per cent were ready to pay slightly more for a ready-to-move property because they wanted to make sure who their neighbours would be and the overall community profile.


Delay in the delivery was cited as a major reason by almost 92 per cent buyers for reluctance to book a new launch.


Faulty design or construction scares 70 per cent of home buyers, who opted for "you get what you see" projects.


"About 78 per cent say they have not got what was showcased as the sample flat," the survey adds. Around 72 per cent respondents complained about developers passing off cafeterias as "clubs" and under-equipped gyms.


Also, 72 per cent were scared of going to consumer courts and face the legal hassles.


More than 62 per cent, therefore, said they preferred to settle for a flat in the secondary market.

'Maintenance law being abused by greedy persons' - Hindustan Times

A benevolent law, enabling needy and deserted women, kids and parents to seek maintenance, is often being abused by "greedy" persons for settling personal scores, the Delhi high court has said. 

The court made the observation while dwelling upon the provisions of section 125 of Code of 
Criminal Procedure which enables women, kids and parents, deserted by their near and dear ones and have no means to sustain themselves, to seek maintenance.


"This section is designed to help the needy and not the greedy. It is not meant for settling the personal scores, but it is experienced that it is often being misused and the present case is an instance," Justice ML Mehta said, adding that it was a "benevolent" law and should not be abused by deserted persons having sufficient means to live.


The court made the remark in its verdict on a petition by a Delhi-based elderly woman seeking enhancement of maintenance amount from her "retired and ailing" husband.


The woman, in her plea, had also sought maintenance from her two sons, living in Australia and Mumbai respectively.


"This is a case of really one of the unfortunate family of scattered members. All the four members are living their independent lives," the court said.


Upholding the lower court's order, Justice Mehta asked the husband to pay Rs. 4,500 per month to her as maintenance.


"In addition, she would be entitled to maintenance of 100 Australian Dollars from her son living in Australia and Rs. 1500 per month from her son living in Mumbai," it said. In addition, the woman, who also owns a house in Mumbai, was allowed to get Rs. 5,000 from her estranged husband who has let out a floor of their three-storied house here for a monthly rent of Rs. 10,000.


Discussing the conduct of the woman, the court said, "here is a lady who owns a house at Mumbai, but is neither prepared to let it out on rent nor give it to her son who is living at the mercy of his sister and sometimes, in some rented house at Mumbai".


It said the woman, who knows that her husband is a retired and ailing person, lied about his income.


Earlier, a magisterial court had held "she was capable of maintaining herself."

This is daylight robbery : North, News - India Today

This is daylight robbery : North, News - India Today:


A yet to be tabled Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report has once again blown the lid off the massive loot of public property in the name of development.
This case relates to the modernisation of the Delhi airport by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) joint venture. The incredibly sweet deal that DIAL got, included the provision of nearly 5,000 acres of land for an annual lease rent ofRs.100 for a period of 60 years.
As part of the deal, AAI permitted DIAL to utilise 5 per cent of the land for commercial purposes. A consultancy firm has worked out the valuation of the land atRs.100 per acre which would peg the total current value atRs.24,000 crore.
The CAG has pointed out that of theRs.12,502 crore capital expenditure, DIAL has contributed 19 per cent, while 54 per cent has come from loans and security deposits, and as much as 27 per cent was generated through airport development fees that the passengers have been paying. The auditor has noted that the original deal had not mentioned that part of the cost would be raised through such fees.
The decision to modernise the airport and the policy decisions related to it were taken by the Union Cabinet and an empowered group of ministers and approved by the Supreme Court.

At Rs. 10 per hour, Connaught Place gets its first multi-level parking lot - Hindustan Times

Connaught Place on Tuesday got its first automatic multi-level parking that will provide space for 1,408 cars, easing congestion in the business district of the Capital. The parking located at Baba Kharak Singh Marg will charge Rs. 10 per hour per car. To encourage people to actually use the facility, chief minister Sheila Dikshit asked the nodal agency New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to start a shuttle service immediately between the parking lot and the market."The NDMC should provide free travel services so that commuters do not have to walk all the way to CP," Dikshit said.


While cars took longer than the touted three minutes to be retrieved, home minister P Chidambaram said whenever new technology is introduced, there is a period of 'trial and error'. 


"We must factor the trial and error aspect of the technologies and be proud of the fact that Indian engineers and companies have designed and implemented the projects," Chidambaram said.


Referring to the glitches being reported at a similar automatic multi-level parking at Sarojini Nagar market, the Home Minister added that the systems are constantly 
improving.


"When the Sarojini Nagar parking was started, retrieval time of cars was 10 minutes as opposed to the hyped 3 minutes. However through continuous trials, it has been reduced to 4-5 minutes in recent times and the retrieval time will go down further in days to come," he said.


Named 'Capitol Point', the project at BKS Marg has been built by DLF on BoT basis. The system functions like a Rubik's Cube, where through a continuous space shift, parking and fetching a car can be realised through pallets. The pallets move forward, backward, left and right to allow the cars to be moved towards the lift for retrieval.


Officials say automated car park facility require less building volume and ground space, as compared to conventional parking lots. The first two floors will be rented out for commercial usage.

Colony markets to be converted into malls - Hindustan Times

Soon, South Delhi residents will have more shopping options. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has proposed to convert four colony markets into shopping malls, complete with showrooms, eateries and parking slots. The corporation has identified four spots — Mehr Chand Market and Soon, South Delhi residents will have more shopping options. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has proposed to convert four colony markets into shopping malls, complete with showrooms, eateries and parking slots. The corporation has identified four spots — Mehr Chand Market and markets in Vasant Vihar, MB Road and Pushp Vihar — for redevelopment.


All the markets are located in posh areas and will meet the requirements of residents who won't have to travel to far areas for shopping, officials said.


The proposal was discussed at a meeting presided by commissioner Manish Gupta.


Officials said there are 122 shops in South Delhi that are either unoccupied or are in a bad condition. A majority of these shops are located in the four markets.


"Instead of wasting prime land, the corporation plans to utilise the space and build malls," said a senior SDMC official.


After the malls are built, the shops will be rented out after a bidding procedure.


A senior official said the corporation will also survey vacant plots to put them to commercial use or to provide civic amenities.


"Majority of vacant land will be commercially used but a few will be used to construct community halls, parks and municipal schools," said a senior official.


In the four colony markets, most shops are on lease. As the property still belongs to the SDMC, it wants to use it before the properties are converted into freehold.


Earlier, the unified MCD had planned to renovate the markets. But after the split, the SDMC believes turning them into malls will be more beneficial.


"Building malls means more underground parking facilities and more revenue for the corporation," said an official.


The SDMC will survey the four markets and come up with a feasibility report. Approval of shopkeepers will also be taken.

Landlord must repair tenant’s home: Court - Hindustan Times

Landlords are duty-bound to maintain premises rented out to tenants in a good habitable condition as the Delhi Rent Control Act mandates them to do so, a city court has said. 

Directing a landlord to carry out the repair work within two weeks, senior Civil Judge Anil Kumar Sisodia said, “Section 44 of the Delhi Rent Control Act casts a duty on the landlord to maintain the tenanted premises in good habitable condition.”


North East Delhi resident Waheed Ahmed had moved court, seeking directions to his landlord to carry out the repairs of the tenanted premises comprising a room, a restroom and a balcony. The court, after examining  photographs of the  premises, noticed signs of seepage from the roof during the rainy season as the landlord had broken the roof of an adjacent room.


Other photographs showed that the tenanted premises did not have any bolt or locking mechanism. The court asked the landlord to carry out the repairs of the tenanted premises, remove the debris, install locking system. 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

MCD making stilt parking provision mandatory for big plots, IBN Live News

New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) Residents of the national capital will now have to keep a provision for developing parking space at ground level for getting sanction of building plans on plots measuring more than 100 square metres. Following a direction from the Lt Governor, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has issued a circular in this regard. According to it, keeping provision of stilt parking (ground level parking) has been made mandatory for residential plots of more than 100 sq metres and up to 1000 sq metres.Without this, the building plans will not be sanctioned. The sizes of the plot will determine the parking space that has to be created. For a plot measuring 100 square metres, two equivalent car spaces will have to be developed. Owners will have to comply and submit an affidavit to this effect, officials said. There is also a proposal to make the owners deposit a specified sum in a bank as a guarantee, to ensure that they do not cover the designated parking space after getting the building plan cleared.