After a hiatus of 18 years, the Chandigarh estate office has decided to put up its commercial sites and two nursing home sites for sale on a freehold basis. The nursing home sites would be on sale for Rs 6.71 crore each and are situated in Sector 51. It was in 2004 that the last auction of commercial properties on a freehold basis had taken place.
The estate office has now decided to auction 10 commercial sites of which one is a shop-cum-office site, and two others are nursing home sites. The UT had its successful auction of residential sites on freehold that took place a week ago.
The auction of these commercial sites would take place on March 28.
UT Assistant estate officer Harjit Sandhu said that it is after 18 years that this auction of commercial site on a freehold basis was taking place. “Last commercial auction on freehold was in 2004,” he told The Indian Express.
The reserve price has been fixed by the officials for the commercial sites.
The SCO site that is in Sector 42, which is about 121 square yards, has its reserve price as Rs 3.73 crore. Two booth sites in Sector 36 and 36D have their reserve price as Rs 1.66 crore each. They are about 67.89 square yard each.
Similarly, another booth site in Sector 44-C, which is about 58.17 square yard, has its reserve price of Rs 1.42 crore.
Four booth sites in Sector 39 D, which are about 28.125 square yard, have their reserve price as Rs 68.77 lakh. Another booth in Sector 33D, which is about 25.093 square yard, has been put up for auction for Rs 61.35 lakh as its reserve price.
Five days ago, a residential site went for Rs 6.5 crore
With almost everything opening up, the estate office is looking forward to sale of its property — both residential and commercial sites.
Five days ago, the estate office had a successful auction where a residential site of 528 square yard had gone for Rs 6.50 crore. The reserve price of this site was Rs 3.71 crore.
They had put up eight such residential sites for e-auction on a freehold basis.
Against the reserve price of Rs 18 crore for these eight plots, the estate office had fetched Rs 37.5 crore which is with an increase of 108 per cent.
The last auction for residential sites was conducted in 2019. After that, because of COVID and not many takers, the auction couldn’t take place.
Of all the eight residential sites, a 344.50 square yard residential site in Sector 37 had its reserve price as Rs 2.56 crore and a 338 square yard plot in Sector 37A and 34 had its reserve price as Rs 2.51 crore each.
A 338 square yard site had its reserve price as Rs 2.38 crore and a 252 square yard had its reserve price as Rs 1.77 crore in Sector 40.
Similarly, a 167 square yard in Sector 33 and a 175 square yard in Sector 35D had its reserve price as Rs 1.24 crore and Rs 1.30 crore respectively.
UT allowed conversion of leasehold into freehold for auction
Due to poor response in various auctions, the administration had allowed conversion of properties from leasehold into freehold and granted a nod to give its units on a freehold basis instead of leasehold.
The approval was given after the administration stated that there was no policy that bars the selling of plots by government agencies as freehold properties.
The response of various auctions of leasehold properties was very poor. There were no takers at all, following which the Administration had decided that all vacant properties be given on a freehold basis.
Ownership rights in leasehold properties are with government agencies, such as estate office (EO), municipal corporation (MC) and Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), while freehold status gives the owner complete rights to the property. The administration was being pressed for allowing the sale of vacant and unsold leasehold plots as freehold repeatedly.