Bihar housing board leased property to become freehold

Bihar State Housing Board (BSHB) property, allotted to individuals on lease, can now be converted into freehold assets on payment of one-time fee.

The state cabinet approved a proposal in this regard at its meeting chaired by chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, principal secretary, cabinet secretariat, Brijesh Mehrotra, said flats, plots and houses offered to individuals on lease for 90-99 years (also known as perennial lease) could be registered as freehold property on payment of 10% of their value as per the prevalent minimum value register (MVR).

The decision to convert the housing board property as freehold was taken during Jitan Ram Manjhi’s stint as chief minister. Accordingly, section 115 of the BSHB Act, 1982 was suitably amended to facilitate the process.

Sources in the urban development department said though the decision was taken in January 2015, it could not be implemented as it lacked procedural formalities, such as the amount to be levied as one-time fee from owners for registration of the leased property in their names.

The BSHB is a statutory authority mandated with the develpoment of various housing schemes and related infrastructional facilities in the state. It has 2958.85 acres of acquired land in seven divisions and 10 district-level towns. Through its various schemes, the BSHB has constructed 11,637 housing units for various income classes. It has also undertaken land development of 7015 plots.