Tamil Nadu announces major housing reforms, Rs 2,883 crore plan to rebuild flats

Tamil Nadu minister B Rajkumar on Friday announced a series of initiatives aimed at streamlining building approvals, digitising land-use processes, expanding self-certification and providing financial relief to housing borrowers. Speaking during the debate on the demands for grants for his department in the Assembly, the housing and urban development minister also announced a Rs 2,882.62 crore plan to reconstruct 12,648 dilapidated flats across 20 project areas. Land-use applications to go fully digital The Directorate of Town and Country Planning will digitise the entire process for land-use change applications, the minister said. Self-certification will be expanded to cover residential buildings of up to 5,000 sq ft. The facility will also be introduced for small commercial buildings of up to 1,500 sq ft. Third-party certification will be introduced for: - Commercial buildings of up to 3,230 sq ft - Residential buildings of up to 8,070 sq ft - Industrial structures of up to 26,900 sq ft in approved SIDCO, SIPCOT and ELCOT layouts Local body approval limits raised Rajkumar said local body approval limits for residential projects would be increased to 16,140 sq ft for corporations and municipalities and 12,912 sq ft for town and village panchayats. “Commercial approval limits for all local bodies will increase to 5,380 sq ft, while procedures for reclassifying wet agricultural land in non-planned areas will also be streamlined through multi-departmental clearances,” he said. Rs 2,883 crore plan to rebuild dilapidated flats The Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) plans to reconstruct 12,648 dilapidated flats across 20 project areas at a cost of Rs 2,882.62 crore. The demolition of 9,918 unsafe units will be taken up first, the minister said. The board will also spend: - Rs 96.63 crore to renovate 41,664 old flats - Rs 355 crore to upgrade civic infrastructure across 208 housing sites - Rs 75 lakh to launch an integrated Smart Habitat Management Platform Interest relief for housing borrowers For primary cooperative housing societies, the government will introduce a broad interest-waiver scheme for borrowers who have defaulted on repayments. The scheme will also provide an additional one percentage point interest waiver for borrowers in the Low Income Group and Middle Income Group categories, Rajkumar said.