Nearly 47,000 register to buy flats in DDA housing scheme

Close to 47,000 people have registered with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for its new housing scheme, which was launched on January 2, in which 1,354 flats mostly in Dwarka and Jasola have been put on sale. DDA officials say that the draw of lots for the housing scheme will be held in March.

Of the 1,354 flats, 1,011 are in the High Income Group (HIG) and Middle Income Group (MIG) categories. The 254 HIG flats are located in Jasola, Vasant Kunj, Rohini and Dwarka. There are 757 two and three-bedroom MIG flats located in Dwarka, Rohini, Vasant Kunj, Jahangirpuri and Madipur.

With a majority of flats in the HIG and MIG categories located in areas such as Dwarka and Jasola, which are well-connected with the public transport system, including Delhi Metro, DDA officials are expecting a good response to the scheme.

Apart from the location, DDA officials said that the quality of construction, facilities at the housing complex, including two parking spots per HIG flat are some of the reasons why people are keen on applying for these flats.

A senior DDA official said, “We have received 46,500 registrations of which close to 9,000 people have already submitted their applications. Till Monday, 2,325 applicants had made the payment. A majority of people make payments in the last few days. Going by the number of people who have registered, the response has been good so far.”

Despite the slump in the real estate market, DDA officials are optimistic that 254 HIG flats in Jasola will find many takers. The cost of HIG flats, which are 87.9 sqm to 177.3 sqm in size, varies between ₹69.62 lakh to ₹2.14 crore. “These are spacious flats, located on Delhi-Noida border and well-connected to the rest of the city via Metro and other public transport system. There is a dual piping system as the complex has its own Sewerage Treatment Plant. The most important thing is that each flat has two parking slots. The ₹2.1 crore cost is as per the market rate,” said a senior DDA official.

Spread over 64.04 sqm to 129.98 sqm, the cost of MIG flats varies between ₹40.64 lakh to ₹1.24 crore. Of the 757 flats, 711 are located in Dwarka sub-city—one of the planned residential areas developed by the DDA. There are 291 flats for the Economically Weaker Section and 52 in the lower income group category in Dwarka and Rohini. It is after nearly a decade, a senior DDA official said, that MIG flats in such large numbers have been put on sale in Dwarka.

The last date to apply is February 16 and senior DDA officials said that the draw of lots for the new scheme will be held at the end of February or first week of March.

DDA’s past few housing schemes did not get a good response from the public. While its housing scheme of 2014 in which close to 25,000 flats were put on sale saw close to one million applications, over 50% of the allottees had returned the flats citing small size of the flats, location related issues, etc.

In the subsequent housing schemes in 2017 and 2019, the DDA had tried to re-sell these flats, but was unsuccessful.

In its 2019 housing scheme, the DDA had put 18,000 flats on sale. But it had to reduce the number of flats in the scheme to 10,294, as it didn’t get the desired response. The land-owning agency had received 45,012 applications for its flats despite extending the last date to apply twice.

Of the 10,294 flats, it could sell only 8,438 flats—488 HIG, 1,555 in MIG, 5,172 LIG and 1,223 EWS category flats--- of which close to 6,000 flats have been returned till December end, according to a senior official aware of the development.

“This time, a majority of the flats have been put on sale for the first time. Given that these are HIG and MIG category flats, we are hopeful of getting a good response and selling all the flats,” said the official.