Will hiked collector rates derail Chandigarh Housing Board’s general housing scheme?

With the UT administration imposing a sharp hike in the city’s collector rates, the future of the much-anticipated General Housing Scheme in Sector 53 by the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) now seems uncertain.

After the new rates took effect from April 1, the cost of the proposed flats has surged by 35% to 40%, leaving CHB officials pondering whether the initial demand for the project, established through a survey in February, will hold up.

Under the new collector rates, a three-bedroom flat’s price will rise from ₹1.65 crore to ₹2.29 crore, a two-bedroom flat from ₹1.40 crore to ₹1.97 crore and an EWS (economically weaker section) flat from ₹55 lakh to ₹73 lakh.

This steep rise raises doubts over whether the 7,468 applicants who expressed interest in the demand survey, conducted at lower rates, will still be willing to proceed at the higher prices.

“With the increase in collector rates, the flat prices have escalated considerably. The matter will now be placed before the Board of Directors, who will decide whether to go ahead with the scheme or conduct a fresh demand survey. The date of the next meeting has not been decided yet,” said Ajay Chagti, CEO, CHB.

However, going by past trends, the meeting is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

The board’s most recent meeting took place on February 27, a full 20 months after the previous one in May 2023, reflecting the board’s pace of decision-making.

Meanwhile, applicants have already paid ₹10,000 for High-Income Group (HIG) and Middle-Income Group (MIG) flats, and ₹5,000 for EWS flats to confirm their interest.

Scheme previously scrapped due to poor response

The current 7,468 applications mark a sharp contrast to just 178 applications received for 492 flats when the scheme was first launched in 2018 — reflecting a growing demand for housing in Chandigarh.

Back then, steep prices had led to a poor response, ultimately resulting in the scheme being scrapped. In 2018, a three-bedroom flat was priced at ₹1.8 crore, a two-bedroom at ₹1.5 crore, and a one-bedroom at ₹95 lakh. Due to these high rates, the scheme failed to attract buyers.

In an effort to revive the plan, the board relaunched the scheme in February 2023 with significantly reduced prices.

However, on August 3, 2023, then UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit put the scheme on hold, stating there was no requirement for it. Consequently, CHB cancelled the ₹200-crore tenders it had floated on August 2 for the construction of 340 flats on a 9-acre plot.

Hopes for revival were reignited after Purohit’s successor, Gulab Chand Kataria, directed CHB in November 2024 to submit an updated presentation — a move that prompted the fresh demand survey.