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area watch: ludhiana
decor trends Green house tax tips
realty bite
REALTY GUIDE
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area watch: ludhiana Property prices in the investor-driven market of Ludhiana have seen more than 10 per cent price correction due to dearth of buyers, all-around liquidity squeeze and erosion of investors’ faith in the property market. Sour investment Massive housing projects are coming up or have already been constructed around Jalandhar bypass and Pakhowal Road but the prices have remained flat as a large number of apartments in these remain unsold. Whatever sale had materialised here was by the investors who had booked flats in the hope of making a neat profit soon. But with a virtually non-existent end user in the market, the investors are now getting desperate to exit from these projects. The new investors are waiting for the right opportunity while those who are already on the scene are waiting for an upward thrust in prices sometime soon. The market has become stagnant and both sellers and buyers are waiting for the scales to tip one way or the other. It is the genuine buyer or the end user who is active in the market at present. Subdued sentiment The state government’s new policies of regularising the unapproved colonies, increasing taxes have resulted in lull in the market. “People are just waiting for the government to make certain changes in the policies or withdraw certain taxes before investing in property here. As compared to the neighbouring states, business in Punjab is going through a very bad phase and this has affected the real estate market in the state”, adds Tejinder. The depreciation in rupee against US dollar had led to increased number of queries by NRIs wanting to invest in real estate, but this, too, was shortlived. Once the rupee bounced back, the NRIs’ interest also faded. “While the dollar was appreciating against the rupee there was a lot of interest among rich NRIs in the UK and elsewhere to invest in India, especially in Punjab. But as soon as the rupee bounced back, the customers also developed cold feer,” said Tejinder. Sumit Gupta from SGM property consultants said, “With 2013 marking the exit of private equity, distress sale in the real estate industry cannot be ruled out”. “The property prices went down by an average of 7 per cent in the first quarter, while in the last quarter the average price correction was around 6 per cent”, he informed. The sharpest quarter-on-quarter decline of nearly 11 per cent was witnessed in zone D which includes localities like Dugri Road, Model Gram, Aatam Nagar etc. While a drop of 10 per cent in the prices was witnessed during the same periodic Zone A, including areas like Brown Road, Transport Nagar, Shiv Puri, Oilla Mohalla, Chaura Bazar and other areas. Meanwhile, the Zone B was an exception as prices here increased by 5 per cent and includes areas like Focal Point, Sunder Nagar etc. Wrong plot of the ‘Mall’ story Going back in time, nearly four years back malls were sprouting in every nook and corner of the city with Ludhiana being termed as the hottest destinations by big developers. However, the spurt didn’t last for long as within a short span of time some projects were shelved, while the work on the others came to a standstill. Market experts say that several of these project were dependent on NRI funding, which has dried up of late leaving these projects in a limbo. Sanjay Sabharwal, a local real estate agent, says, “Builders are waiting for the elections before start ing work on the pending projects. They are hoping that the new government will help bring the economy back on track. Hence, the delay in completion of projects”. “The absence of buyers, the ongoing cash crunch, lack of liquidity in the market and builders’inability to raise credit from banks are the main reasons for the delay in the completion of several big-ticket and small projects,” says a leading property consultant of the city. Periphery has potential The city is fast spreading its wings into the surrounding villages. The localities that were once considered posh have become congested now while the interiors of the city are just reserved for business activities. People are moving out of the narrow lanes of the old city areas to more open outskirts. As a result many housing development projects are coming up in the city around Pakhowal Road, Canal Road, Chandigarh Road, Ferozepur Road and GT Road. These townships provide a better alternative to the expensive plots located in the main city. “People looking for budget accommodation prefer these townships located on the outskirts. It is expected that within a year or so prices in these townships will also become out of the reach of a common man. The price of land in the city’s interiors is approaching its saturation point and it is set to increase in the newer areas”, says Girish Pahwa a city-based property consultant. Villas are another popular choice in the premium segment but developers are going slow and are assessing the demand in different categories of residential segment. Apartments are not an attractive option for the investors here as there is already an over supply in the local market because of low demand for flats in high-rise housing societies. The demand for farmhouses, plotted developments and independent floores in low-rise developments is going up in the industrial city. Most of the projects offering these are located around Sidhwan Canal and Pakhowal Road. The price range of villas is between
Rs 80 lakh and Rs 4 crore, while for farmhouses the price varies between Rs
70,000 and Rs 1lakh per sq yd depending upon location. Comparative rates in different zones Zone A Commercial: Rs 60,000 per sq yd Zone B Residential:
Rs 18,000 per sq y Zone C Residential:
Rs 15,000 per sq yd Commercial: Rs 40,000 per sq yd Zone D Residential:
Rs 20,000 per sq yd Commercial: Rs 60,000 per sq yd
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Add festive cheer to your home This Diwali let your creative spirit make your home look pleasant and inviting Sukhmani Bhore ... Diwali is the time for new
beginnings, and shopping for new clothes, jewelry, appliances etc for one’s
home is the flavour of the season. However, in all this excitement
of getting something new for one’s home one should not overlook the
happiness of creating some things on your own to add that personal touch to
the look of your home. So along with the new why not use some recycled stuff
and bring your Diwali décor costs down. Recycling adds a whole new meaning to the festive season. The whole family gets together to make decorative confetti and this brings in a joyous atmosphere into the household. I am myself a DIY junkie and love handmade and homemade items. So here are few ideas that you can try out to make the festival special. ‘Light up’ new ideas Candles represent the light of God and are a part of every celebration. Since Diwali is known as the festival of lights, the significance of candles is even greater. Make some beautiful handmade candles to a dd a personal touch to your decor. Re-use old wax candles and make new ones in beautiful and innovative containers like sea shells, teacups, egg shells or even orange peels. Create awesome rustic- looking candles that also smell divine by tying some cinnamon sticks around these with a twine. Placed single or grouped together these will be the highlight of your Diwali decor. If coffee is more your flavor, then place a tealight in a bowl full of coffee beans. Recycle some little glass jars into painted glass candle holders. Fill sand in tall wine glasses, add a few sea shells and a tea light and a beautiful diwali table decoration is ready. A fresh coat of paint and a dash of glitter will jazz up your old plain diyas. You can even paint and use metal lids of containers as diyas. Used
painted egg carton cutouts can be used to create fairy lights which
can be easily used for decorating your house. You can also use some old
organza ribbons to create cute and angelic fairy lights. These will
surely be a show stopper. Paper light luminaries: Place
tealights in glasses and cover the glass with a coloured paper lantern.
The effect is just awesome. Lanterns or kandeels as they are called in India add a special touch to Diwali. Make your own with paper, cloth or glass jars. Welcome Bandanwars or torans are the traditional door hangings. Traditionally, torans are made with mango or coconut leaves, but you can also use craft paper or re-usable home decoration items to add an artistic twist to these. You can also use embroidered or trendy dress materials to attract your family and friends by making an embroidered bandanwar. Artificial flowers, old greeting/wedding cards can also be used to make beautiful torans for your entrance! Hope
these simple ideas will motivate you all to re-use and recycle stuff
this Diwali. Rangoli is
a must during Diwali and looks beautiful and inviting. But if you want
to create a portable, recycled and simple rangoli design then use
cardboard packaging to make designs and this can be used over and over
again. If
you have a few soda cans lying around, make beautiful light holders out
of them by cutting them and painting them in bright colours.
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Potted glory Amarjeet Singh Batth Pots add beauty as well as mobility to your garden. They give you the option to carry plants to any part of the house and increase the ground coverage area by extending the garden to rooms, verandahs, projections and rooftops. Pot gardening also offers flexibility to change the arrangement to form new and fresh patterns. However, choosing the right type of plants for your pot garden is very important as only a few plants give better display in pots than on ground. Tall and profusely branched plants should not be grown in pots. Prefer plants with heavy and compact blooms. Annuals which are generally preferred in pots are Antirrhinum, Aster, Brachycome, Calendula, Cineraria, Marigold, Nemasia, Pansy Petunia, Phlox and Stock. Chrysanthemum and Dahlia are raised from the cuttings and are highly preferred for pot flowering. Proper placement of pots is also very important. Use semi-diffused light for shade-loving plants like Cineraria and Salvia. Size matters These days pots are available in various shapes and sizes. The size of pots should be chosen considering the growth potential of the plant. A pot will always give a better look if the foliage is covering the entire pot. To have a better pot effect go in for 10"-12" diameter pots. Clay pots should be preferred as roots of plants can easily breathe and absorb moisture in these. Ensure there is an appropriate drainage hole at the base which should be opened to drain the excess water. The drainage hole should be covered in such a manner with broken bits of earthen pots that water gets drained without letting the soil spread around. A drain plate should be kept at the base of the pots, which helps collecting the drained water without ruining the floors. New pots should be prepared by soaking them in water for a few minutes and then allowing them to dry. In case the pot mixture is dry, spray a light shower of water to make it moist to facilitate setting of the pot soil in the pot. Fill the pots with the pot soil in layers and gently press each layer so that the soil get well settled but does not become hard. Transplant the seedlings keeping in mind that the spread should cover the pot completely. The soil mixture should be lower by one inch from top of the rim to accommodate water. After transplantation give light irrigation which will stabilise the seedlings in the pots. Water wisdom Watering should be done in the morning and evening for a couple of days till the plants has established themselves. Later, the pots can be watered whenever the surface soil starts showing the signs of dryness. The pots are then shifted to the desired location. Pots require regular irrigation which depends on the kind of flowers and its foliage. There is a tendency of giving water every day, but this may not be good for all plants. Some well-developed plants like Chrysanthemum and Dahlia may require watering even twice a day. Annuals in the pot require regular fertilisers at least fortnightly through soluble fertilisers 20:20:20: NPK at the rate of two grams per liter of water. Plants of Chrysanthemum and Dahlia require firm staking with bamboo sticks which are tiered just close to the flower head. To have a well-filled pot, seedlings of Phlox, Verbena, and Antirrhinum may be pinched to encourage more branches from the base. Preparation of soil A pot mixture is prepared by mixing the following ingredients in the ratio of *
two parts of garden soil * one part leaf-mould (if available) *
half part sand * half part farmyard manure *
60 grams of DAP per cubic meter of pot soil.
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tax tips Q.I am going to purchase a house property worth
Rs 45 lakh and will be taking a bank loan of Rs 30 lakh for it. I am a salaried employee and don't own any house property. Although I have a flat (purchased in 2008 under Power of Attorney in the name of my mother). With a pure intention to save stamp duty (of around 2 per cent on cost of purchase) and also to avail income tax deductions, I wish to use the following route to acquire the above mentioned house: I will buy the house in name of my mother (registry in her name). Bank loan will be in her name with my name as co-applicant. She will use her own funds to make the balance payment of
Rs 15 lakh. On the date of registry, my mother will sell the house to me for the same price through a sale agreement (this will not be registered) and/or power of attorney in my name. Sale agreement will also mention that I will take over the bank loan from her. Now EMIs will be paid from my account only. Thus, it will make me the owner of the house as per Section 24, 27, 269UA of the Act and I will be eligible for income tax deduction of housing loan interest and principal. Instead of going for sale agreement with my mother (as stated above), my mother can make a Will in my favour regarding this house which may or may not be registered. This will make me the owner of the house as per Section 24, 27, 269UA of the Act and I will be eligible for income tax deduction of housing loan interest and principal. Please give your suggestion on my understandings or suggest any other option.—
Neeraj Gupta A.I have gone through the scheme for purchase of a house property suggested in your query and have to make following observations in this regard. *
The proposed sale of the house property purchased by your mother for ~45 lakh and its sale immediately after the registration may involve the taxability of a short-term capital gain on the basis of the value assessable for the purposes of levy of the stamp duty. This is in spite of the fact that the sale would be made through an agreement to sell and a power of attorney would be executed by your mother in your nominee's favour. This is on account of the provisions of Section 50C of the Act which provide that where consideration received or accruing as a result of the transfer by an assessee of the capital asset, being land or building or both is less than the value “assessable” by any authority of state government for the purposes of stamp duty in respect of such transfer, the value so assessable shall be deemed to be the full value of consideration received or accruing as a result of such transfer. Any difference in price, therefore between the cost of the property and the assessable value will be treated as short-term capital gain in the hands of your mother and will be taxable at the normal slab rate. *
The proposal to have a Will in your favour instead of execution of an agreement to sell and Power of Attorney will not enable you to acquire the status of an owner in terms of the provisions of the Act as the Will will take effect after the death of your mother and therefore you would not be able to claim the deduction in respect of the repayment of principal amount of loan against your total income in accordance with the provisions of Section 80C of the Act. This would also not enable you to claim a deduction in respect of interest payable on loan raised for the purchase of the house as you would not be considered as an owner and such deduction shall not be allowable under Section 24 of the Act. I would suggest that instead of saving 2 per cent stamp duty, you would be well advised to purchase the house property in your own name. Your mother can give you a loan of Rs 15 lakh to you on which you can pay interest to her and claim deduction under the provisions of the Act. It would be a simple transaction without creating any problem to you and your mother as far as the tax assessments are concerned.
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Clarification on TDS deduction Q.I had purchased a flat worth about ~58 lakh three years ago, and have paid approximately ~55 lakh in instalments. I have to pay last instalment of ~2,58,000. In this year’s Budget a new clause of TDS was added and it was told to deduct 1 per cent of the total value of the property from the payment made after June 30, 2013, even if the previous payment was made before this date. In your reply to similar query in these columns (dated September 21, 2013), you have advised to deduct 1 per cent of the money paid after June 30, 2013. Please clarify. A.Section 194 IA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (The Act) provides that any person being a transferee, responsible for paying to a resident transferor, of any sum by way of consideration for transfer of an immovable property other than agricultural land shall, at the time of payment of such sum in cash, by issue of a cheque or draft or by any other mode, deduct an amount equal to 1 per cent of such sum as income tax thereon. It is further provided that no such deduction shall be made where the consideration for the transfer of an immovable property is less than ~50 lakh. In the case cited in the query consideration for the purchase of flat exceeds ~50 lakh. As there is no further clarification on this issue, it would be advisable to deduct tax @1 per cent of the balance consideration which is payable to the builder so as to steer clear of any penal provisions applicable for non-deduction of tax at source. The amount of tax deducted at source should be paid to the credit of the Government of India electronically within seven days of the end of month in which such tax is deducted. Form No. 26QB is to be used for the payment of such tax deducted at source to the credit of the Government of India.
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How can I save tax on the capital gain amount? Q.I had purchased a plot for Rs 10 lakh in April 2007 and constructed a house on it in 2007-08 by spending another Rs 20 lakh. The estimated sale price of the house at present is approximate Rs 1.50 crore. The house is in the name of my wife and a home loan of Rs 17.25 lakh is pending. I am planning to sell this house. I will pay off this home loan and purchase a plot from the rest of the sale consideration. What will be my tax liability and how will I be able to save tax? Both of us are working and earn around Rs 4.5 lakh per annum each and fall in the 30 per cent tax slab. — Sanjeev Kumar A.The house property constructed in the year 2007-08 for
Rs 30 lakh will have an indexed cost of Rs 51,12,523 (Rs 30 lakh x 939/551). The capital gain on the intended sale of house at
Rs 1.5 crore would, thus, be Rs 98,87,447. The tax payable thereon would be @ 20 per cent plus applicable education cess @3 per cent thereon. You have stated in your query that you would be repaying the housing loan of
Rs 17.25 lakh in respect of house in the name of your wife and would like to purchase a plot with the balance money. The purchase of plot would not enable you to save the tax exigible on the amount of capital gain. You can save the tax payable on capital gain provided you purchase or construct a residential house within the specified period after the date of intended sale of the house property. For compliance of this requirement, the amount of
Rs 98,87,447 or part of such amount of capital gain which has not been utilised towards the purchase or construction of a house before the due date of filing tax return will have to be deposited in a bank under capital gain scheme before the aforesaid date . The due date is to be reckoned in respect of the assessment year in which the capital gain arose. The purchase of a residential house can be made within one year before or two years after the date of sale of flat. The construction is required to be completed within three years after the date of sale. The amount so deposited will have to be spent for the purchase of the house or construction of the house by withdrawal from the said account. On the basis of figures given in the query it will be possible for you to pay back the loan of
Rs 17.25 lakh out of the amount of Rs 51,12,523 being the amount of indexed cost. The other method of saving capital gains tax is the investment of capital gain to the extent of
Rs 50,00,000 (maximum permissible limit) in acquiring infrastructure bonds issued by the Rural Electrification Corporation Limited or National Highway Authority of India within six months of the date of sale of house property. These bonds have a lock-in period of three years and cannot be sold or transferred for the said period. Such bonds can't even be used for obtaining the loan from bank by pledging the same as a security. The balance amount of
Rs 48,87,447 would be chargeable to tax @20 per cent plus education cess of 3 per cent thereon. In case you don't want to adopt any of the permissible options for saving tax exigible on capital gain, you will be liable to pay tax @20 per cent plus education cess of 3 per cent thereon on
Rs 98,87,447 as mentioned earlier.
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realty bite The Centre will soon appoint real estate experts and consultants in 15 major states for helping them to prepare affordable housing policy and streamline the rules for approving realty projects. “We are coming out with a policy where we will be engaging large number of real estate experts and consultants for each individual state and ask them to study various rules and regulations related to building plan approvals,” Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Secretary Arun Kumar Misra said while addressing a Assocham conference on the real estate earlier this
week. Misra said the Centre would identify 12-15 major states where these experts would be engaged for simplification on the rules and regulations. Realtors apex body CREDAI has been demanding a single-window clearance for approvals of realty projects, saying that the cost goes up by 40 per cent due to delay in approvals, which generally takes 12-24 months. Speaking on the sidelines, Misra said that the process of engaging consultants has already started and the same would be completed in the next two months. Asked about scope of work of these experts, the secretary said: “They will help the states to develop a housing policy with special emphasis on the affordable housing and also study the various laws, rules and regulations which are involved in getting a clearance of building
activities”. Misra said the experts would also develop a software that will help the states in expediting the approval process. Apart from delay in approval process, Misra listed out other bottlenecks faced by the real estate sector that are limited land, existing rent law and high cost of funds. On relaxing FDI rules in realty sector, Misra said the Cabinet note had already been circulated. He said the ministry has suggested bringing down the minimum built-up area to 20,000 sq m from the existing 50,000 sq m. — PTI
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REALTY GUIDE Q.Two of my uncles had surrendered their rights in the ancestral house in which I am living according to a family property settlement deed signed by all brothers in presence of two witnesses after the death of my grandfather in 1958. The land revenue record since then has been in name of my grandfather. Now the legal heir of my uncles are demanding their share in the house. Is the above mentioned deed a legal document in court even if it is not regiteted? Is an unregistered property settlement deed written in 1958 and signed by all brothers in the presence of two witnesses a legal doucument in the court of law? —
Rajeev Sethi A.According to the Transfer of Property Act right, title or interest can be acquired only if the deed is registered. Registration means recording of the contents of a document with a Registering Officer. The documents are registered for the purpose of conservation of evidence, assurance of title, publicity of documents and prevention of fraud. In your case, the document is 55 years old and it has not been implemented in any government record. Moreover, you have not taken any implementation from the court on the basis of this document. If any witness and other signatories of the document are alive then it is easy to prove the authenticity of the document by showing them as a proof in the court. Can I sell a property with no mutation record? Kindly advise in my case the right procedure to: *
Execute a Will in name of my son; and * Sell this plot/house to outsider. —
K.K Nagpal A.Mutation does not confer any title. It is just a maintenance of revenue records. As the title deed is in your favour, you have full right to make a Will in favour of anyone you want to. You also have an option to sell the property to anyone as you are a bonafide owner having a clear title in your favour. Transferring land in son’s name Q.I wish to give my ancestral agriculture land situated in my village to my elder son. The approximate value of this land is
Rs 45 lakh. I have alreadt given a house to my younger son and the value of that house is around
Rs 70 lakh. What steps do I need to take so that there is no future dispute between my sons? A.You should transfer your ancestral property in the name of your elder son by making a title deed of the land in his favour. In that deed you should clearly mention about the transfer of your house to your younger son earlier. This has to be done to avoid any problem in future. There is no need to mention the value of the two properties in the title deed.
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Affordable office spaces Sushma Buildtech Limited, recently launched a new lot of affordable business spaces in its Sushma Infinium commercial project on the Chandigarh-Delhi National Highway.The new commercial spaces have been priced at
Rs 17.75 lakh for 298 sq ft area units. “The objective of this offering is to cater to the budding entrepreneurs of the region and the clients have really accepted the product well”, said Bharat Mittal, Director of SUSHMA Buildtech. The group is also offering easy payment and assured return schemes on these office spaces. Sushma Infinium is a 7 lakh sq. ft. mixed-use development with offices, retail, hotel, cafes and health centres spread over an area of 4.5 acres. Vaibhav
Heritage Height at Greater Noida West B.S
Buildtech group recently launched a luxury residential development —
Vaibhav Heritage Height — at Greater Noida West. The project will have
seven towers consisting of 2, 3 and 4 BHK apartments. The basic sale
price has been announced at Rs 2,835 per sq. ft. onwards under the flexi
payment plan.The apartments are available in the sizes of 955 sq ft. to
2300 sq ft. area. The project has been designed by renowned
architectural consultants NPLUSU. The complex will have the podium and
basement parking along with all modern amenities like club house,
swimming pool, etc. Greenarch
in Greater Noida Saviour
Builders Pvt. Ltd. and New Way Homes Pvt. Ltd launched a luxury
residential project Greenarch, in Greater Noida (West) recently. The
project is a joint venture between the two developers and is spread over
an area of 10 acres. It will have 1,200 flats of various sizes starting
from 2 BHK + study (1325 sq ft), 3 BHK (1630 sq ft) and 3 BHK + study
(1890 sq ft) with the starting rates of ~ 3600 per sq. ft. Speaking on
the occasion, Sanjay Rastogi, Director, Saviour Builders Pvt. Ltd. said,
“Each flat in this project will be furnished with state-of-the-art
amenities and offer panoramic views of the surrounding. The project
includes a 50,000 sq.ft. club along with various facilities like
gymnasium, swimming pool, squash court, indoor badminton court etc”. Club
Terraces at Gurgaon SARE
Homes, an FDI developer of residential integrated townships across
India, announced the launch of its new project ‘Club Terraces’ in
Sector 92, Gurgaon earlier this week. The 19-storey tower will offer 3
and 4 BHK luxury apartments in the price band of Rs 1.17 crore to Rs
1,31 crore. The new project is part of a 48-acre integrated township
located on the 60-m arterial road on the Gurgaon growth corridor. The
possession will be handed over within 36 months of the beginning of the
construction work. — Based on information provided by
the developers Plots in Mohali Hills project
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“The July-September quarter of 2013 was subuded for the real estate market and was possibly one of the worst quarters in terms of sales across cities. A combination of discounts and flexible pricing has kept the sales alive over the past few months,” said Tejinder Pal Singh, from G.N Property consultants.
Residential:
Rs 25,000 per sq yd
Commercial: There is hardly any commercial property
Delight
in designs
Soda
can tealight holders
Fit to bloom
Q.My father has purchased a plot in 1984 and he executed a Will in my name in 2006 (the house on this plot at that time was being constructed by me with my own funds and with the consent of my father and his immediate blood relations) . The mutation of the property is neither in the revenue records nor could it be recorded in the Municipal Corporation records, as the Haryana Government has exempted assessment of property tax on residential properties for a long time.
Real estate and infrastructure developer Emaar MGF Land Ltd, has launched “Exclusive Plots” at its Mohali Hills integrated township project. Available in sizes 250, 300, 400 and 500 sq yds, these plots are part of the company’s 3,000-acre integrated township on the main Landran–Banur road (200 ft wide road). A 10-minute drive from the proposed International Airport, Mohali Hills is also close to the Mohali Railway Station. The company is also offering an easy payment plan for these plots. The buyers will be required to pay just 25 per cent of the total cost within rwo months of booking of a plot and the rest will have to be paid at the time of taking possession of the plots. The price of the plots is
Rs 20,000 per sq yd onwards. The possession will be handed over within a year.