Hyderabad: With the TS government reviving the Housing Board, the concept of building and selling LIG, MIG and HIG flats by the government is all set to return after a long time,.
The sizes of flats in the three categories (lower income, middle income and higher income groups) are also being increased to cater to present needs since the flats constructed by the board in undivided AP had received poor response due to their smaller size.
These flats will be built along the lines of those built in Baghlingampally in the city, but with a modern look with better amenities. The percentage of payment to be made by buyers is being reduced from 40 to 30 initially and the balance 70 per cent can be paid in EMIs for 10 years. Notifications will be issued soon, inviting applications from buyers.
The AP Housing Board in undivided AP, which was established in the 1960s, played a major role in helping people from lower and middle income groups to realise their dreams of owning a home in Hyderabad and other cities.
However, the APHB became defunct over the years with poor planning resulting in pending projects and few takers for these flats besides some buyers defaulting on payment of loans.
The APHB had built 75,000 houses / flats in various categories, of which over 31,000 had defaulted on payment. The board struggled to recover the dues by offering a one-time settlement in 2004.
Later, the board planned several projects in the city between 2006 and 2012 at Kukatpally, Alwal, Red Hills, Kuntlur, Hayathnagar, Torrur and Nizampet etc. but there was no response, forcing it to halt the projects.
The reason cited were smaller size of flats and relatively higher cost when compared to private builders for the same facilities offered. Having learnt lessons from the failures of APHB, the TSHB came out with major changes in construction of flats/houses to attract buyers for the changing times.
It submitted proposals to the government to construct flats of bigger size, reduce the down payments and provide better amenities to suit present needs. “The decades-old concept of APHB in constructing LIG, MIG and HIG flats would not work now.
There has been a sea change in the perception of buyers towards flats / houses. If we can cater to the present needs with affordable cost, we are confident of attracting buyers and make TSHB projects a huge success.
Several changes have been proposed after conducting a thorough study of what led to the failure of APHB projects between 2006 and 2102,” said housing minister A. Indrakaran Reddy. The minister recently convened a meeting with APHB officials to finalise the proposals and submit the same to the government for approval.
With Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao too in favour of providing affordable housing for lower and middle income groups, the department is confident of getting the government's approval soon so as to commence construction.
