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real turf
area watch: pune
Relief on cards for home loan borrowers tax tips Green house Vaastu wisdom
Over two-fold rise in PE inflows into realty in Jan-March
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real turf
A visit to Raj Nagar Extension in Ghaziabad, just 10 km from Delhi and once billed as great place to live, will gives one a fairly good idea of the current state of realty sector in NCR. One can notice a series of under construction buildings dotted with huge hoardings of the realty companies announcing the salient points of the projects. However, one can’t see any activity going on in these construction sites. Why is nothing happening in these buildings? A manager of a well-known realty firm says that one can see such a gloomy scenario in the entire NCR. “As it is the buyer sentiment has been low and fund crunch has been crippling developers for the past couple of years. On top of it incidents like Mumbai’s Campa Cola compound and Noida’s Supertech fiasco have shattered the buyer confidence further.” It is no secret that in both the cases, the axe fell on the customers. Their dreams of having a home of their own have been shattered, at least for now. The message in both the cases is loud and clear: Customers need to be very vigilant before taking a final call in terms of buying a flat. Along with this the need for a regulator for the realty sector has once again been highlighted. While in the case of Campa Cola compound, the owners of illegal flats will have to find alternative accommodation as the Apex court has made it clear that they have to vacate the flats. However, there is hope for those who had invested in Supertech’s project as the Supreme Court has directed that status quo be maintained on the two under-construction 40-floor towers, in the Emerald Court project in Noida, which face demolition following an Allahabad High Court order. According to noted lawyer Sunder Khatri, “The apex verdict has given a huge relief to all those who have invested in this project. Now, they can look forward for fair deal as and when the Supreme Court gives the final order.” It may be recalled that a Bench led by Justice RM Lodha agreed to examine Supertech’s plea against the high court order while ordering the developer not to sell or transfer flats in the Apex and Ceyane towers. Earlier, RK Arora, the Managing Director of the company, had promised that the interests of the customers would be looked after. Supertech was allotted a 48,263 sq m plot in Noida’s Sector 93A in 2004 for constructing Emerald Court Group Housing Society, which was to have 15 towers with 11 floors each. These apartments were completed in 2010. The existing residents of Emerald Court had opposed the sanction granted to two towers without maintaining the mandatory distance of 16 metres between the new towers and their building block, as required by the Noida Building Regulations and Directions of 2010, making their blocks unsafe. In its ruling, the high court had pulled up Noida Authority for allowing construction of the two towers and ordered prosecution of the officials having a role in it. While ordering the demolition for violation of construction norms, the court had held that the developer will also refund the money to buyers “with 14 per cent interest compounded annually within four months from the date of filing of certified copy of this order”. The towers — Apex and Ceyane — are part of Supertech’s Emerald Court project. A division bench of Justice VK Shukla and Justice Suneet Kumar had said that these should be demolished. The two towers are at an advanced stage of construction. More than 21 floors have been built in Apex and 17 in Ceyane. The towers were to have 14 flats on each floor besides a penthouse each. For the buyers, these weren’t good tidings. “On one hand, we need to pay EMIs while on the other, we don’t have any hope of getting the new home. We were hoping to move into the new flat in 2012 when they were supposed to be handed over,” said Nitin Shingla, who has bought a flat in Apex. The project’s financiers are IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, Corporation Bank and HDFC bank. “All we had to do was to fill up some forms and submit documents to get the finance. Supertech had roped in the financiers,” said Sudeep Manchanda, another buyer of an Apex home. For almost all the apartments, the banks have disbursed 90-95 per cent funds. “There doesn’t seem to be any answer coming from the builders about a possible refund. Worse, we have to keep paying EMIs,” said Dharmender Singh, who is fronting a group formed by Apex and Ceyane buyers. “If nothing else works, then we might be left with no option but to file a criminal case against the builders. They have suppressed facts about an ongoing litigation for the past two-three years. And even sold flats while the litigation was already on,” said Sudeep Mandhanda, a buyer.
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area watch: pune
It is no secret that 2013 was not a very good year for the Indian real estate sector. The economic slowdown, coupled with political uncertainty, led to a downward trend in the property market. On the residential property front, high property prices and home loan interest rates kept a large number of buyers waiting on the sidelines across most Indian markets. However, despite the overall slowdown in the sector, the property market in Pune maintained a steady momentum that tends to define all stable real estate markets. At this point in 2014, anticipation rides high on the outcome of the general elections. Considering the current political scenario in the country, the arrival of a new government could spell a positive change in country’s economic scenario. Any significant rectification of the status quo would help in stabilising the stock market, which in turn has relevance to the growth parameters of real estate development. Meanwhile, Pune’s real estate market is showing healthy growth across most asset segments. Mid-Income Housing All these areas have demonstrated a steady increase in customer inquiries and are poised to grow exponentially in the future. Affordable Housing The luxury home segment has been burgeoning on the Pune’s real estate market, with many large players entering with projects. However, we are now witnessing a slight shift in the development trend. Many new players on Pune’s real estate market are now venturing into affordable housing segment. This is obviously where the greatest demand lies. Pune’s real estate landscape is expanding constantly, and the prices of the land on the outskirts are still low. This gives developers a chance to offer affordable 1 and 2 BHK units price-tagged at between
Rs 10 lakh and Rs 22 lakh. Players like Maple, Jalan Group, Vastushodh and Javdekar Group are now actively targeting this segment by providing decent amenities — and they have long-term plans of expanding into the entry-level housing segment. These affordable housing projects are spread across different sectors of Pune. Locations such as Moshi in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pirangut on the Lavasa Road and Kirkitwadi ahead of the Sinhagad road are seeing more and more development activity by local players such as UrbanGram, Vastushodh and Aapla Ghar. The emergence of upcoming townships like Nanded City is providing excellent investment opportunities, as the prices in such projects are set to soar in the near future. The demand for these projects comes from both the IT and manufacturing sectors. As Pune has many major manufacturing industries situated on the outskirts of the city, the demand for the affordable residential housing is scaling up among blue collar buyers. Factors such as constantly improving connectivity and the increasing availability of social infrastructures like hospitals and schools are the primary drivers of investment potential for these projects. Locations like Sanaswadi, Lonikhand, Talegaon Dhamdhere, Shikrapur on Nagar Road and Shirwal towards Satara are thriving industrial hubs. These areas are now seeing some major affordable housing development by players like Maple, Pratham Developers, Star City and CFP, and the demand is excellent owing to the affordability quotient of these projects. The reception of entry-level housing projects in Pune always generates a lot of interest from end users and investors. The affordable housing proposition is especially attractive for first-time home buyers, since they benefit from a tax deduction of
Rs 1lakh on the rate of interest paid for housing loans up to Rs 25 lakh, provided the value of the flat does not exceed
Rs 40 lakh. Investors are not only attracted by the low price tags of these projects. They also see that the rapid connectivity enhancements and improving social
and In a significant development that points the way for a growth trend of the future, certain multi-national manufacturing companies have acquired large numbers of units within these projects for their employees. In fact, the strategy of providing housing to employees in order to boost loyalty, curtail attrition and attract more staff is one that works very well in the Indian context. Super-Luxury Housing
High and Rising Pune’s mid and luxury residential property segment also began gaining significant traction over the past two quarters, resulting in a very healthy rate of inquiries translating into sales. The city’s developers are understandably upbeat about the response that ultra-luxury housing continues to evoke in Pune, and are launching projects with the motto that luxury knows no recession. Luxury housing in Pune is, in fact, now defined by a whole new dimension when it comes to amenities and conveniences. In industry terms, super-premium housing in a city like Pune is defined by projects that have unit sizes of 3,500 sq ft and above, complemented with addresses that convey status and prestige, carrying price tags of
Rs 12000/sq.ft. and above. Some of the notable super-luxury housing projects in Pune are:
The writer is Managing Director (Pune), JLL India
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Relief on cards for home loan borrowers There is good news for existing home loan borrowers. The RBI has suggested that banks must effect any change in floating rate loans only at the agreed-upon reset date. This is aimed at ushering in transparent and appropriate pricing of credit, according to an RBI working group. Floating rate loan agreements can have interest rates reset monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, etc. Once the loans are reset on the date agreed upon in the agreement, the customer would know upfront when the rates are due for change. This will increase transparency. What this means is that any change in the base rate (the minimum rate below which banks can’t lend) need not result in an immediate change in the floating interest rate on existing loans. The panel felt that for a given customer, once a spread (mark-up over the base rate) has been determined after looking at all factors, including the customer’s credit profile, customer relationship with bank, strategy, etc, it should not be increased except when it may involve deterioration in the credit-risk profile of the customer. There should be a loan covenant to this effect. Apart from this, the working group said other external factors should not impact the contracted spread for a given customer. The group has also suggested that bank boards must ensure that customers are not discriminated against and that the differentiation in pricing of credit will occur only due to specified factors such as competitive conditions, customer relationship and business strategy. To improve transparency in the pricing of floating rate loans, the panel has proposed a new benchmark — Indian Banks Base Rate (IBBR) Index — which is a benchmark derived from the base rates of some large banks. The use of IBBR will help floating rate loans prices to move in tandem. A bank’s specific funding advantages or disadvantages and changes in funding profile will not affect customers. Further, as the IBBR will be based on major banks across the system, changes in base rates of a few banks will have limited impact on the index. Being an industry-wide index, it is likely to find better acceptance. The IBBR may be collated and published by the Indian Banks’ Association on a periodic basis, it said. To begin with, IBBR may be used for home loans. Transparency in loans Banks should disclose the interest rate range of contracted loans for the past quarter for different categories of loans. Terminology must be standardised by all banks. Banks may be mandated to provide a one-page key facts statement to all retail/ mortgage borrowers at every stage of loan processing. Interest rate reduction on the principal due to pre-payments should be given on the day the money is received.
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tax tips
A. In my opinion you would be liable to pay tax on the capital gain arising on account of such acquisition by the corporation in accordance with the provisions of Section 45(5) of the Act in the year in which the compensation has been received. The computation of the amount of capital gain will be made after deducting the indexed cost of that part of the house which has been acquired, from the amount of compensation received by you. Any enhanced compensation on account of an appeal, etc; would be taxable in the year in which the amount of such enhanced compensation is received. It may not be possible to claim that the expenditure incurred for repairing the other portion of the building that has not been acquired, be allowed as deduction against the amount of compensation received in respect of the portion having been compulsorily acquired. This is because of the provisions of Section 48 of the Act which deal with the mode of computation of capital gain. According to the said Section, deduction is allowable only in respect of two items, namely, expenditure incurred wholly and exclusively in connection with the transfer of capital asset and the cost of acquisition of the capital asset and the cost of any improvement thereto. The expenditure incurred on repairs cannot, in my opinion, be covered within the aforesaid permissible deductions. I do agree that equity demands that such an expenditure should be allowed as deduction for computing the amount of capital gain. However, as the legal position stands, I do not find any provision in the Act that can enable you to claim such a deduction while computing the amount of capital gain. I may add that you can save the amount of tax in case the part of the building acquired was more than three years old by utilising the amount of capital gain for purchasing a new residential house within two years after the date of receipt of compensation or construct a new house within three years after the date of receipt of compensation. You can also utilise the amount of capital gain for acquiring tax-saving bonds within six months of the date of receipt of compensation. Who is liable to pay stamp duty?
a) Who is liable to pay the stamp duty on documents which are required to be stamped? b) What are the consequences in case the document is not stamped? — Viraj A. Replies to your queries are hereunder: n In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the expense of proper stamp duty should be borne by: a) In case of sale deed (conveyance deed), purchaser b) In case of a lease, the lessee c) In case of power of attorney, the executing party d) In case of certificate of sale on auction, purchaser e) In case of exchange deed, both parties equally f) In case of a partition deed, all the parties in proportion to their shares g) In case of partnership deed, any partner or firm h) In case of mortgage deed, the executing party In case of a doubt on duty payable on any instrument, an application should be made to the District Registrar (Deputy Commissioner of Stamps) with a draft of the proposed deed or deed itself so as to clarify the position. An affidavit on stamp paper along with prescribed fees should also be submitted for the purpose of seeking such clarification. Non-payment of stamp duty does not make the document void or invalid. The agreement remains binding. The validity of the agreement does not come to an end. In case of a document which is required to be stamped under the Stamp Act but has been under-stamped or has not been stamped, the document becomes inadmissible as evidence before any authority. Also the document can be impounded for enforcing payment of full stamp duty as due as per the applicable Stamp Act. In case any document that requires stamp duty is under-stamped, it can be rectified later. In order to rectify the defect, the person has to pay a penalty, which may be up to 10 times of the original amount. Any under-stamped document or instrument can be admitted as evidence in a court of law if the penalty of 10 times the value of the original amount has been paid.
A. The capital gain in your case would be computed as under: Sale consideration (initial compensation) Rs 50,00,000 Less: Indexed cost of acquisition (Rs 2 lakh x 939 ÷ 100) Rs 18,78,000= Rs 31,22,000 The above amount would be taxable @ 20 per cent plus education cess @ 3 per cent thereon. In case you want to save the capital gain tax, the above amount should be deposited in the capital gain scheme account with a scheduled bank before the due date of filing the Income Tax return for the assessment year 2014-15. Further, the amount so deposited should be utilised for the purchase of a residential house within a period of one year before or two years after the date of receipt of compensation or utilised for the construction of a residential house within a period of three years after date of receipt of the compensation. In the alternative, you can invest the amount of capital gain in tax-saving infrastructure bonds issued by the National Highway Authority of India or Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd. Such investment can be made within six months of the receipt of compensation. As and when you receive the enhanced amount of compensation the same can also be utilised for purchase or construction of a residential house or in the acquisition of infrastructure bonds within the period referred to above. I may add that the enhanced compensation would be chargeable to tax in its entirety as there would be no cost of acquisition in that case Am I allowed deduction on rental income?
A. On the basis of the facts provided by you it seems that you are running a mini-hostel for the students and the rentals so received from them should be treated as business income. The same should be taxable under the head "income from profits and gains of business or profession". You would, therefore, be entitled to claim the deduction of actual expenses incurred on the maintenance of the rooms and for other services provided to the students. You should, however, keep a record of such expenditure. Such expenditure should be duly supported by the invoices, receipts etc. It would be advisable to keep proper books of account for recording such income and expenditure. The net income after deducting the actual expenditure incurred in relation to the activity carried on by you will be taxable in your hands. The portion of the house used by you for your self-residence would be treated separately and its income would be taken as 'nil' in view of the provisions of the Act applicable to the computation of income from self-occupied properties.
email your queries to realestate@tribunemail.com
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How green is your wall CS Bewli
It is akin to any picture hung on the wall, but with a difference that the hanging garden is live and ever changing. It is also an aesthetic green way to combat indoor air pollution as these plants help in absorbing toxins from the air. With an artistic design any wall, within a room, in the lobby or in the balcony can be used for having a “green” zone. A pretty and impressive hanging garden of leaf succulents can be created by using this technique. Leaf succulents are a natural choice as these plants can store extra water in their leaves and hold on to it to release only when needed. This feature makes them look beautiful as their leaves have thick, fleshy and juicy appearance as compared to those of other plants. These plants with their striking forms and easy maintenance are much sought after by gardening enthusiasts and can be placed
A number of plants of almost the same size and of the same species or different species are required to create a “wall garden”. It is convenient to take cuttings of leaf succulents as these root easily and similar size cuttings can be selected from the mother plant. Leaf succulent species suitable for wall gardens are: aloe aristata, a. jucunda, kalanchoe marmorata, k. tomentosa, sedum rubrotinctum, s. morganianum, s. burrito, agave stricta, a. parviflora, a. victoria reginae. Leaf succulents are suitable because they:
The display looks best when viewed at an eye-level height. A well-balanced and artistically prepared garden always attracts attention no matter where it is hung. The arrangement made with flowering plants is a sure and easy way to add colour and flair to the garden outdoors as well as to complement the decor of a balcony or a terrace garden. This provides an additional design element to pep up the overall look of any area` How to create wall garden
Tending tips
The writer is President of the National Cactus and Succulent Society of India
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Vaastu wisdom Q. We have recnetly constructed a new house. Kindly let me know about the right colour scheme for different rooms as per Vaastu principles. —
A. Colours influence our body and mind and play a vital role in bringing balance to our minds and stimulate energy levels. Green drives away anxiety, blue cures insomnia, red solves your overweight problem, orange improves your appetite, pink relieves from tension and yellow improves memory. Some colours add zest to life and give positive attitude where as some colours have an opposite effect. Do not use bright colours on walls facing windows and doors in south and west directions as they reflect light and cause glare. Keep these doors and windows closed during day time so that the bright rays do not reflect in the room. If a room gets poor light during daytime then it should be painted in light colours. If a room has only one window facing north then it is advisable not to use blue colour in that room. If a room gets a lot of direct sunlight, then it is not advisable to paint the walls yellow or peach. It is better to use white for ceilings. You may choose colours as under: Bedroom: Light colours —pink, blue, green, and lavender in their lighter shades keep the rooms tranquil and induce good sleep. Pink or cream coloured tiles or marble are good for flooring. Kitchen: Kitchen must have some tinge of red in it depicting fire. White or blue are suitable for walls and flooring Guest room: For active and pleasant atmosphere prefer lighter tones of yellow, green, blue, orange or lavender.
Study room: To improve concentration and for pleasantness opt for green, blue, light purple which also improve memory Children’s room: Bright colours are suitable for baby rooms be it pink, blue, yellow, orange or purple Bathroom: White, light gray, pink or any pastel shade is suitable.
Q. A small peepal tree has grown on the eastern wall of our house. Is it inauspicious? — Purvi Singh A. If a tree must be removed because it is inauspicious or for other reasons, then it should be removed in the months of Magh or Bhadrapada. Worship the tree a day before cutting it and express regret over uprooting it. Promise to plant a new tree in its place in some garden or religious place and do so within three months. When cutting the tree, it should fall towards East or North and not in South or West. After uprooting, fill the area of the wall deeply with good plaster to avoid any further growth. Q. We have purchased an old house and plan to reconstruct it. This house shares a common wall with an ancient temple and the temple premises has a large 200-year-old banyan tree. The street also has a dead-end, but the house is in north-west direction. A Vaastu specialist has warned us of negative effects. Kindly guide. — PS Bedi A. The expert might have expressed his opinion but according to Vaastu norms the direction of the house is perfect. If the temple’s activities don’t create sound pollution or traffic menace and the branches of the banyan tree are not higher than the proposed height of your house, then there is no problem in constructing the house after dismantling the old structure. However, please ensure that the street is not totally sealed and some passage is left for pedestrians. The writer is a Chandigarh-based Vaastu expert. Mail yout queries to vaastu@tribunemail.com
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Over two-fold rise in PE inflows into realty in Jan-March Private equity inflows into the real estate sector jumped more than two-fold during January-March period to
Rs 2,800 crore, according to global property consultant Cushman & Wakefield. During the same period in 2013, the private equity (PE) investment in sector stood at
Rs 1,143 crore. In its latest report on PE investments in real estate, Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) said: “Total inflows into the real estate sector for the first quarter of 2014 were recorded at
Rs 2,800 crore ($460 million), witnessing an increase of 28 per cent compared to the previous quarter and nearly 2.5 times the investment in Q1 2013.” The consultant attributed the rise to increasing investments in leased office assets by both foreign and domestic funds. Leased office assets have the potential of stable yields and attractive capital values in the asset class. Residential asset class has also witnessed stable investments as developers are increasingly using PE funds to raise capital. “Despite stagnant sales, the high coupon rates offered by developers is attracting capital to the asset class. Fund houses have tried to mitigate some of these risks by investing through structured mezzanine deals guaranteeing fixed returns,” C&W said. Commenting on the report, C&W Executive Managing Director South Asia Sanjay Dutt said: “A number of funds have committed funds towards investments in Indian real estate and this is expected to translate into increasing transactions in the sector, especially in income yielding assets.” With expected growth in capital requirements, we see a number of fund houses raising additional capital to invest in the sector,” he added.
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New towers at Springdale Dharuhera
NCR-based realty group Vardhman Estate & Developers Pvt. Ltd recently announced the launch of two new towers at its ongoing residential project Springdale at Dharuhera Sector 3, Haryana. The complete project is spread across 9 acres and is connected to NH-8. The new towers offers 3 & 4 BHK lifestyle apartments spread over 1640 and 1850 sq ft area, respectively and price starts from
Rs 2995 per sq ft. Speaking on the occasion Vivek Gupta, Chairman, Vardhman Estate & Developers (Pvt) Ltd said, “We have also acquired new land at Sonepat and will also launch a new residential project there soon ”.
— Based on information provided by the developers
Avenida in Kolkata Realty firm Tata Housing will invest about
Rs 450 crore over the next four years to develop a new housing project in Kolkata. It recently launched Avenida located in the Central Business District area of New Town, Rajarhat, Kolkata. Avenida is a luxury residential gated community with 29- storeyed towers designed to balance a sweeping curvilinear boulevard with magnificent views of the green landscape. This is the company's second project in Kolkata, Tata Housing said in a statement. The project is spread across 13 acres and has a total of over 700 residences which range from small 2BHK (1080 sq.ft.) and large 2BHK (1255 and 1,500 sq. ft.). The construction will start this month and project is expected to be delivered by 2017. According to company spokesperson the prices start from
Rs 70 lakh onwards. The company has 70 million sq ft under various stages of planning and execution and an additional 19 million sq ft in the pipeline. It is offering products ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 14 crore.
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Dera Bassi project wins best golf development award The Asia Pacific Property Awards are part of the International Property Awards. Speaking on the occasion Getamber Anand, said "This is a very prestigious award for us as it means our work is now being recognised internationally". Later this year, the highest scoring winners from the Asia Pacific Property Awards will compete against other winning companies from Europe, Africa, Canada, the USA, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Arabia to find the World's Best in each category. NHB to revive stalled projects with fresh funding National Housing Bank has begun the search for stalled housing projects that can turn viable with fresh dose of financing, acting on a government directive to support such projects after restructuring the accounts. Many housing projects across states got stuck due to funding gap as a result of slower economic growth. The government has told banks to focus on such projects to unlock their value. NHB is primarily looking at smaller towns. Many residential real estate projects are stuck midway because of insufficient funding. These projects can be turned viable if they get fresh bank loans. NHB will coordinate with builders, assess project viability and facilitate bank funding after restructuring accounts. Lenders, in turn, have requested the government for a favourable asset classification norm. The government may take up this issue with RBI to encourage fresh lending to the sector. According to prudential norms, if a project fails to become operational in two years after the proposed deadline banks have to classify the project as non-performing. But real estate developers said that in many cases, banks have not funded the projects fully and, therefore, the loans should not be billed as NPA as the loan cycle has not been completed. Oberoi Realty ties up with Ritz-Carlton for Worli hotel Oberoi Realty has tied up with international luxury brand Ritz-Carlton for its upcoming Worli hotel project in Mumbai. This project would be developed by Oasis Realty, a joint venture between Sahana and Oberoi Realty. It would comprise two high-rise towers. Oberoi Realty Chairman & Managing Director Vikas Oberoi said, “We will invest total Rs 750 crore on hotel development and this will be financed by sale of residential units in this project.” — PTI |
Vivek Shukla
It is no secret that 2013 was not a very good year for the Indian real estate sector. The economic slowdown, coupled with political uncertainty, led to a downward trend in the property market. On the residential property front, high property prices and home loan interest rates kept a large number of buyers waiting on the sidelines across most Indian markets.
SC Dhall
While the legal process in these two cases will continue, the important point is the lesson that each prospective buyer should learn from such cases. It is essential to carry out a detailed study of the builder and the project before investing your hard earned money in it. Sale Agreement is a very important instrument as far as a property transaction is concerned. “You should know that the agreement is always on a stamp paper. It includes the final actual amount, advance payment, time limit to pay the due amount and how to pay it in installments, time indication when the actual sale should take place. It also includes what to do to cover loss in case of a default by the buyer or the seller. “This agreement should be prepared by an expert lawyer and signed by both the parties with two witnesses,” says Rajeev Chopra, CEO of ILD Developers.
Considering the concentration of population that is professionally active in the IT and manufacturing industries, there is now a greater demand for multi-storey apartments. Residential micro-markets like Kharadi and Wagholi in East Pune and Pimple Nilakh, Pimple Saudagar and Wakad in West Pune are seeing a lot of residential development, driven by good connectivity with the key centres of the city and the presence of good social infrastructure like schools, hospitals, malls and entertainment centres.
Affordable housing projects tend to be located on the outskirts, offer small 1–2 BHK flats and provide basic, no-frills amenities. Over the past couple of years, Pune has recorded a certain amount of growth in this segment. Interestingly, while there has been compelling growth in the high-end segment with luxurious 3-4 BHK homes, the budget housing story is far more attractive to investors.
Q.
A part of my building has been forcibly acquired by the Municipal Corporation for constructing a road. The part which has not been taken over requires a huge expenditure for repairs etc. The amount of compensation received by me is not sufficient to carry out such repairs. Will I still have to pay tax on the capital gain on the portion that has been acquired by the corporation? —
Rikinder
Q.
On going through replies to various queries in your column, I have noticed that you have invariably mentioned that a gift deed or conveyance deed will have to be executed by paying stamp duty on the market value of the property. There are two questions in which I would like to have your response.
Q.
I have a residential property that had been acquired by Punjab Government in 2012 (the cost of acquisition in April 1981 was Rs 2 lakh). The government has awarded Rs 50 lakh as the initial compensation which has been received in June 2013. The appeal against the said compensation is pending in the High Court and I expect to receive a further sum not less than Rs 50 lakh. Please advise me with regard to my tax liability on the capital gain arising on the acquisition of the house and any way to save the payment of such capital gains tax. —
Shiv Lal
Q.
I am a widow and own a large house in a prominent area in the city. I have let out a part of it to a group of students studying in engineering college and provide them with all the other facilities such as food, laundry and the like. Will I be allowed the deduction of the amount spent on the maintenance and repair of the rooms in which the students reside as well as the expenditure incurred for providing the food etc. from the income I earn from letting out the rooms to such students? —
Shanti Devi
Paucity of space in urban habitations has made several gardening enthusiasts turn to innovative ways to pursue their passion. Vertical gardening is one such creative idea that is fast becoming popular among those having small homes as it occupies vertical space to give a different design element to any garden.
artistically in a designer format through an intelligent selection of different colour foliage. Depending upon individual choice, the garden can feature one species or a mix of species, or plants of flowering or foliage species. The wall can also be created with other plants such as ferns, chlorophytums, ivy, begonias, bromeliads and many more. Air plants can just be placed on a wire mesh to create a vertical garden.
A hanging wall garden can be created in a frame of about 60 cm x 75 cm with 10-12 cm depth. It can be made of wood or any other material that is able to retain moisture. To add to its appeal a designer picture frame with matching colours, texture and materials that complement the wall can be placed on the frame.
The ATS Group has been awarded the Best Golf Development for ATS Golf Meadows Dera Bassi, by International Property Awards in the 2014 Asia Pacific regional competition. ATS competed against a number of developers in the region to receive this recognition. Getamber Anand, Chairman & Managing Director, ATS Group received the award in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week.