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TREND MILL Renovation seems to be the only plausible option. Everyone's doing it. Look around and you find the entire neighbourhood boasting of new building styles culled straight out of the architecture books. So many architects also recommend the construction of a new house on an
old plot. It's all very easy, apparently. But wait a minute. Before you pick up the phone and dial "h" for help, think for a moment. Do you really have to demolish brick by brick the efforts that have gone into building the house you recently
purchased, or your grandfather constructed in his hay-day?
Why shouldn't I?
WELL, it's really easy to build up reasons against reconstructing houses. To begin with, the cost of raising the house of promise from the rubble of the old will eventually turn out to be more than committed by the architect you know through a friend's friend. It will cost you a fortune. And then, you will have to spend at least six months more out of your house than the completion time initially assured. Sometimes, the supply of raw material will take time. Once in a while, the labourers will disappear. Really, that's the way houses are rebuilt. There's another reason for not razing to the ground a house once so fondly raised. "Constructed with well-baked bricks, the structures are mostly strong," says Chandigarh-based contractor Kamal Bhardwaj. "They can almost always withstand the vagaries of weather and calamities." Another thing: You cause inconvenience to your neighbours. They bear the brunt while the labourers employed by the contractor beat down the structure, hammer by hammer. For days together they have to live with raised noise levels right from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. No wonder, changing your plans from reconstruction to renovation will not just save money -- so hard to come by in the days of recession -- but also time and effort. Don't just limit yourself to gables and balconies. Think beyond for a whole new world of relaxation, style and comfort.
I need additional space
YOUR problem can be solved easily by bringing in additional area under construction, or by partitioning the existing — extensive or intensive changes, as the say. Young entrepreneur Vivek Sharma expanded the balcony of his house in Sector 38, Chandigarh, to carve a lobby out of the living room. Now, the room's size is the same, while the original balcony serves as an atrium-cum-television room. The Malhotras in Sector 16, Chandigarh, too, have created additional rooms for the growing children by shifting original walls to increase or reduce the size of existing rooms. It now has enough rooms for members and guests. Avoid wasting space on galleries. Design doors such that they require minimum space to open.
My house is too cramped
THIS is the best time to knock off a wall to create space. Open spaces are the rage right now. In fact, you can have a spacious hall, instead of a living room and a dining room. It will make the house all the more spacious and give you the much-necessary breathing space. Also, the kitchen can be opened up to the family room. It adds the ingredient of style to the house and can spice up your evenings by leaving the room open for conversation even when all the cooking is going on. The Joshis in Sector 67, Mohali, have a kitchen without the fourth wall. "It does not give me a feeling of alienation and isolation from the rest of the family, even while I cook," says Uma Joshi. Before you demolish a wall, ensure it is not load bearing. Also remember to check for electrical wires in the wall. Call an expert in case the wires need to be disconnected and remove fragile stuff from around the wall before pulling it down. You can also make the house all the more airy by removing the bow window and replacing it with a French door and sidelights. Do not seal the house up by double-glazing. The porch, too, can be rebuilt to allow more sunlight into the house.
Precautions I need to take
BEFORE you embark on the process of giving a new look to your existing quarters, see if you need to engage an architect to carry out structural changes. Make sure you find a professional capable of giving an ear to your needs, likes and dislikes for ensuring a "sympathetic renovation". Also, listen to the building. It will tell you in clear terms the requirements: Replace the defective, renovate the old. Another thing, you can use recycled products while restoring the old house. The option is not only inexpensive, but also eco-friendly. If living in a house with stonewalls, do not use cement over it. It spoils the look. Keep it as natural as possible. Happy renovation!
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Policy Imperfect
THE Haryana Urban Development Authority’s (HUDA) new plot possession policy has few takers. A survey of Panchkula, a high potential zone of HUDA, reveals that resentment is brewing among plot owners and property dealers, who term the policy “unilateral”. Allottees have been asked to take possession of plots within three months of the date of announcement of the new policy, which requires them to construct a boundary wall of at least nine inches high around the plots within the next three months. Though issued on November 27, the guidelines remained obscure. It is only now that different urban estates have begun issuing newspaper notices to make people aware. The deadlines for taking possession of plots is less than a month away -- February 26 – while May 25 is the last date for construction of boundary wall. “The new policy is baseless. Non-construction fee is charged on the understanding that the authority will take care of vacant plots till the time allottees are able to generate funds for building a house. If allottees are to build boundary walls and remove encroachments, there is no question of non-construction or extension fee,” says Suresh Agarwal, president of the Haryana State Property Dealers Welfare Association. The authority is simply backing out of providing security to plots against encroachments, he says. In Panchkula, many plots in sectors 26, 27, 28 and 17 are five-six feet deep. In order to build a boundary wall, an allottee would first have to get the plot earth-filled. The foundation will have to be raised from sufficient depth, as foundations raised on filled ground don’t stay. The expenditure could run into lakhs! In such circumstances, the very purpose of collecting extension fee is defeated. Cases filed by allottees may go in their favour, depriving HUDA of revenue of crores. Similarly, many plots in different urban estates are low lying and may even need earth-filling up to 10 feet. And if you plan to build your house after some time of building the boundary wall, the bricks could well have been stolen, unless the authority offers to guard constructed boundary walls! Money spent on building the boundary wall may go waste.
Since boundary walls are common and expenditure is normally shared by the two allottees, one may construct his part of the wall and the other may not turn up for long. In the meantime, the wall may not remain serviceable, causing full burden on the allottee who had constructed the common wall. Apart from expenditure, the new policy could also pose a big problem for inhabited houses in the neighbourhood. “An allottee may skip earth filling and simply raise a boundary walls to comply with the policy. This would result in ponds of stagnating water every monsoon and be the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies. Otherwise, these will become garbage dumps. Spread of epidemics in such cases is not ruled out,” says A.K. Dhingra of Sector 25, Panchkula. The authority has been issuing advertisements for allotment even though development works in the sectors are yet to be carried out. In some cases, even the pockets for plots have not been demarcated. Even after allotment, it may take years to make plots ready for physical possession. In the meantime, the allottee could have moved outside the city or even country, making it impossible for him to take possession and construct the boundary wall. “The authority’s new policy is feasible only if the plot is ready for possession at the time of allotment,” says an allottee currently abroad. The new policy seems unilateral and definitely needs a review, he adds.
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Will they, won’t they? A meeting of all states has already been convened to seek solutions to revive stressed sectors, including real estate. The mid-term appraisal of Planning Commission will take place immediately after conclusion of forthcoming Parliamentary Polls. The new schemes will be unfolded even at the cost of deficit financing for which the commission will enter into consultations with industry associations like Assocham. The Planning Commission, the Reserve Bank of India and the Finance Ministry have jointly announced series of measures to rebuild confidence in Indian economy and many more such initiatives could also be announced by the commission after concluding the proposed mid-term appraisal, hinting at further lowering of interest rates for affordable housing. Meanwhile, chief executive officers of Omaxe, Raheja Developers, Pioneer Urban Land and Infrastructure and Jones Lang LaSalle Mehgraj, who participated in an Assocham-organised conference for the real estate sector, collectively raised their voice, opposing foreign direct investments in realty. Omaxe chairperson cum managing director Rohtas Goel, who also heads Assocham’s real estate committee, said FDIs in the sector would not increase supply and demand for affordable housing. “Entry of foreign players will only enhance and shoot up land prices and pose a serious challenge to affordable housing,” Goel said. He demanded that the present model on which real estate sector currently stands crippled needed to be changed. He said that that in the Rs 40,000 crore stimulus packages for infrastructure, Rs 10,000 crore be exclusively allocated for realty, as subsidy, so that affordable housing becomes a reality. Goel also announced that his company had decided to offer affordable housing to people. “We have identified the first site in Indore and subsequently, this initiative will spread to other parts of the country like Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jaipur,” he added. Speaking on the occasion, Raheja Developers’ managing director and Assocham real estate committee senior member Navin Raheja also opposed FDI entry into the sector. “The sector is currently under stress, but would come out of it in the next two-three months as developers would have to build houses for all stakeholders to stay and survive in the business,” he said.
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Pranab to review home loan data
FOREIGN minister Pranab Mukherjee, on his first day in the finance ministry, called a meeting of heads of public sector banks on February 2 to review home loan data. The meeting comes days before the Parliament session and barely a month before the General Elections process begins. Mukherjee is holding additional charge of the finance ministry in absence of the Prime Minister, who is recuperating from a heart surgery. The government and the Reserve Bank of India had received complaints from the public that banks are not coming forward to extend loans to genuine buyers. Contradictorily, bankers said that despite reduction in rate of interest, there had been a lukewarm response to loans from the public. Home loans have not picked even after the special package, as there is a perception that real estate prices will fall further. Banks had explained this to the finance ministry, but it went ahead and asked for fortnightly data. Since elections are likely to be held in April-May, the government wants banks to extend loans and increase their credit flow for boosting economic activity. According to latest data, the growth in the total flow of housing loans dropped to less than 9 per cent at the end
of December 2008 from 14 per cent at the end of August 2008.
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Low-interest stimulus may not be useful for realtors
THE Centre’s stimulus package to help the crisis-hit realty sector may not be of much use for both developers and buyers in several cities as most of the housing projects were not expected to take off before the deadline for the scheme, says an industry body. The stimulus package would definitely lift the overall sentiment, especially in the Rs 5-20 lakh budget range. However, the lower interest rates extended for loans up to Rs 20 lakh are valid only till June 2009, Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) Tamil Nadu chapter secretary T Chittybabu said. “Even if the developers were to announce projects to suit budget (housing) of Rs 5-20 lakh, receipt of approvals from the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority or local bodies would mean that buyers and developers cannot meet the June 30 deadline and the scheme will expire,” he said. The CREDAI, he said, suggested introduction of a single window concept to bring down the time taken to approve a housing project, in order to boost domestic demand. “A single window concept should be brought in to bring down the time taken to approve a project to 15-30 days,” Chittybabu, who is also the chairman cum managing director of Akshaya Homes, said. Replying to a question on housing loan interest rates, he said coming months should see rates fall as inflation was under control, there was increasing liquidity in the system and banks were being encouraged to lend to the sector. However, demand for residential units in Tier II and III cities have gone up considerably owing to the availability of infrastructure, skilled talent pool and presence of IT/ITeS companies, Chittybabu said. “The cost of living in these places is comparatively lower compared with metro cities. The current slowdown in the IT sector has brought down the demand, but it is not very significant,” he said. He pointed out that a seven to eight per cent GDP growth and rapid urbanisation would see an increasing need for residential spaces. With technology coming into the sector in a major way, the need for professionals would rise. On the government’s stimulus package, Sahara Prime City head (infrastructure and housing) Sushanto Roy said it reflected the government’s priority in bolstering up the real estate industry. He, however, suggested that other fiscal incentives like lowering of Credit Reserve Radio, Repo and Reverse Repo rates would help lower home loan rates, which in turn should enhance demand for housing. He said if the priority sector home loan limit was raised from Rs 20 to 30 lakh and exemption limits for tax benefits on interest paid on homes loans were raised from the current 1.5 lakh, it would greatly help boost demand in the housing sector. Sahara Prime City real estate business-sales head Sunder Lal said a reasonable buy in this scenario would comprise a number of factors like location at which the property is available within the budget, ability to negotiate for pricing, credibility of the developer and tracking of the development of a particular project. “One must buy a property after analysing and balancing all these aspects,” he said.
— PTI
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GREEN HOUSE
Expertspeak GARDENERS who combine duranta with iresin complain that the iresin either dies in winter or makes a loose cover. Iresin, in fact, does not like to grow high and is very happy when clipped very near the ground. Do this and watch it flourish even in winter! A word of caution here: Standing water or excess of it could be detrimental to
iresin. IN this era of two-minutes noodles, gardeners are constantly looking for quick landscape features. This is particularly true for commercial projects where landscaping needs to be hurriedly completed. In such circumstances, use of ground cover plants is the best option. Another good way is the use of bold stones, river stones, pebbles and marble chips. In case of tree planting, there are also a few tree species that give good rate of success when transplanted even at a mature stage. The success rate of tree species reared in gunny or plastic bags is also good, but then the age of the trees is less. Made to grow in constricted containers, their roots rupture the bags and come out getting damaged either due to exposure or at the time of picking of plant where the roots have penetrated the soil below. In some countries, lawn grass square slabs are also used for overnight lawn development, but it is not so here in India. Ground cover plants, as the name explains, cover the ground at a rapid speed to develop a feature. Once they cover the area, they also suppress the emergence of weeds. Some such plants are used in shade areas where grass and other plants do not grow. Ground covers take pruning very well and form a thick ground canopy. Some of the commonly used ground cover plants are duranta golden (green and variegated), cauphea, alternanthra, iresin (kali patti) and wedelia and a few sedums. Ground cover plants are available in different hues of light and deep green, black, yellow, golden, green with white variegation and pink. It is up to the planner and designer to create features and designs by putting those of contrasting colour side by side. Golden duranta is the most commonly used. It is also very easy to multiply. Simply make cuttings and see it spread. It is used to create bed edges, hedges and patterns. In combination with iresin, it makes excellent combinations. Not many have tried variegated duranta, but it makes a very attractive 10-inch high edge. It also forms a good topiary due to its ability to take repeated pruning well. Wedelia is one of the favourite ground covers of gardeners. It has shining green serrated leaves that grow vigorously. It takes pruning well and left to grow on its own gives yellow daisy like flowers, too. It is sturdy enough to be grown at road edges and also where there is dearth of water. It forms a good edge near the ponds and grows equally good under shade conditions. There is no serious insect threat, too. Alternanthra forms a good cover and is also available in marble colour but is sensitive to frost. It is, therefore, not advised to be grown in combinations. Cauphea takes pruning very well and forms uniform growth. However, when grown in a bed allowing such growth that the plant edges just touch each other, the plant can be used for giving tiny blue or white flowers. Lavender, trailing junipers, snowbush, spider plant, pilea etc is also used as ground covers. Some people use Ficus species plants as ground covers and try to keep them low by repeated pruning. It is no use explaining anything to them! (This column appears fortnightly) The writer is a senior horticulturist and can be contacted at
satishnarula@yahoo.co.in
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TAX TIPS
Your share is yours, do anything with it
Q. I am 77-years-old. As my sons ill-treated me after the death of their father, I authorised my daughter through power of attorney to sell a part of my share in my husband’s ancestral land. She sold the land in question in 2006 and deposited the sale proceeds amounting to Rs 20 lakh received by account payee cheque in her savings bank account. Thereafter, I filed my income tax return and paid the long-term capital gains tax, as directed by my lawyer. I have also written my will debarring my daughter from inheriting my share in the ancestral land of my husband. I cannot revoke my will due to certain reasons. Nevertheless, I also want to compensate my daughter for the selfless service rendered to me all these years. Your expert advice is solicited on the following point: Can my sons legally claim sale proceeds of my share in the ancestral land of my husband, which were deposited in my daughter’s savings account in 2006, when I was still alive? My daughter and I are receiving threats to face dire consequences if land or cash is
gifted in accordance with the income-tax laws. — Manjit Kaur A.
I assume that there was a partition of the ancestral land (joint family property) as on the date of the death of your husband whereby you became entitled to your share of the ancestral land. Reply to your query is based on the said presumption. n Your sons cannot claim the sale proceeds of your share in such a property. n You can gift your share of remaining land to your daughter. This would require execution of a gift deed and registration thereof. Stamp duty for such registration would be based on market value of the land. As far as the threats are concerned you will have to take the help of police authorities for corrective action.
Court can’t question Mother’s Gift
— Urmila Devi A. The facts given in the query indicate that the amount realised by your mother on the sale of her share of the property was gifted to you, as your mother does not seem to have any control over the said amount. A simple letter from your mother and acceptance note from your side can support such a gift. The court cannot question a valid gift to you by your mother.
CGT on transfer of agricultural land
— A.P. Singh A. Under section 54B of the Act, exemption from capital gains tax is available on transfer of agricultural land if: - n such agricultural land is owned by an individual, and n such agricultural land was being used by an individual himself or his parents for agricultural purposes in the immediately preceding two years, and n the capital gain arising on the transfer of the land is utilised in the purchase of agricultural land within two years from the date of the transfer. The amount of exemption under the aforesaid section is equivalent to the amount of capital gain arising on the transfer of the agricultural land or amount invested in purchasing new agricultural land whichever is lower.
You haven’t paid excess tax
Q. I am a senior citizen and sold my share of ancestral agricultural land within municipal limits for Rs 15.45 lakh in May 2007. The indexed cost as calculated on the basis of fair market price in 1981 of the land in question was Rs 10,05,660. As such, I earned Rs 5,39,340 as long-term capital gain. My income from other sources was Rs 65,564 during 2007-08. As directed by my lawyer, I paid Rs 84,440 as income tax. I am now told that I paid tax more than what was required. What is your expert opinion in this regard? I am 75
and illiterate. — Ram Dulari Sood A. On the basis of the facts given in the query, I find that the tax paid by you is in order and there seems to be no excess payment for the assessment year 2008-09.
Mutation advisable before making will
Q. My father built a house from his own resources in 1953. He expired in 1992 and by virtue of his registered will, I was to become the sole owner of the said house. I am 80 and have two sons and one daughter. Till date, I have not taken any step to get the ‘intqal’, transfer or mutation of the house in question in my name. My queries are:
— Shyam Lal Arora A. Reply to your queries is given hereunder:
This column appears weekly. The writer can be contacted at sc@scvasudeva.com
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YOU have cleaned the walls and the windowpanes, given the frontage a fresh coat of paint, replaced faulty electric fittings and the leaky pipes in the bathrooms and the kitchen, but you are still utterly discontented with
the results… 
IN its forthcoming mid-term appraisal, the Planning Commission is likely to unveil couple of new incentivised schemes for the real estate sector so that it acquires priority status in the middle of the meltdown and to provide for affordable housing.
Q. My mother lost her husband in 2001 and I have been looking after her since, as my brother ill-treats her. Two years ago, she authorised me by power of attorney to dispose of her share in the ancestral property of my father, which I did and and deposited the sale proceeds in my savings bank account held jointly with my husband. I spend this money to provide comforts of life to my mother and by giving donation for philanthropic work. My mother has a PAN and has filed I-T return and paid long term capital gain tax, as advised by the CA. My mother appreciates what I have been doing for her, but is reluctant to do anything against the wishes of her son. She has most probably made a will in favour of my brother debarring me from inheriting her share in ancestral property of her husband, my father. In fact, my mother wants to reward me for looking after her for years, but is reluctant to commit in writing. My brother has now threatened to drag me to court to claim his share in the sale proceeds of ancestral property of our mother. My question is: What should I do to retain the unspent money pertaining to the sale proceeds and deposited in my bank account after the death of my respected mother. I am myself a
senior citizen. 
Q. I have a piece of agricultural land that will be in use for cultivating crops. I intend selling the same and shifting to Uttarakhand where I would like to invest the amount realised on sale of the agricultural land in buying a piece of agricultural land. What would be the position of capital gain arising on such agricultural land if the money from its sale is invested in buying another piece of agricultural land?