MyCCMpro Community

[NoelRick]

The price of real estate has gone up tremendously even in Kerala where the available land is limited for housing and other commercial activities owing to the flow of money, mostly from outside the State. In the case of Kerala Apartments builders of northern India and the Gulf are buying land in the outskirts of cities and towns. As such, regulatory measures have been unable to tackle the situation. Government intervention is the only effective way to check the illegal practices. Besides scrutiny by the Registration Department, scrupulous checks should be initiated to ensure that the transaction, especially when each document exceeds Rs.5 lakh, is legal. The source of the buyer’s income should be recorded in the agreement and the sale deed. They should be asked to obtain an undertaking from the buyer of the land regarding the details of properties registered. It should be checked with the limit stipulated of such properties to be acquired by a particular person/firm in the locality or elsewhere. The government should fix the land limit and housing properties to be possessed by an individual or a firm. The government should confiscate excess land obtained unscrupulously. The rules of the Registration Department, incorporating requisite safeguards, should be updated to protect the interests of the poor. The flow of black money into the State enables the real estate mafia to buy land. The availability of money plays a crucial role in the illegal land transaction. In order to prevent the price hike, it is important to identify the source of money used to buy vast tracts of land in the heart of the city. The departments such as revenue and registration have many limitations in preventing the price rise. As the value increases, the revenue incurred in terms of stamp duty and registration fee increases. The government should chalk out steps to curb the hike in the documents.
The land owners, whose ancestral properties were sold to builders of multi-storeyed complexes and apartments, are leaving the cities and residing in rural areas. However, those in the rural areas prefer moving into townships. Those belonging to the middle-income group take loans to buy land. The State and Central government staff also approach private banks to secure loans. The real estate agents buy acres of land and selling three to four cents to individuals. The make a hefty profit through the sales. The government should take steps to curb such malpractices and ensure that the common man is not affected by the sky-rocketing land prices.. The following are the main sources of the wealth — black money amassed by the people by evading tax, counterfeit currency being circulated in the State and hawala money. The State government has recently issued an order stipulating mandatory production of the buyer’s photo and identification documents at the time of registration. The right to housing resolved by the United Nations, decades ago, deserves to be enshrined in our Constitution and implemented effectively. Supply of serviced land to the below poverty line households at affordable price should be the responsibility of the government and the local bodies. The government should inquire the sources of money in the urban land deals during the past five years.

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