'Will' no more a must for property regularisation

Mar 09,2022

The announcement made by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister assumes significance as the municipal bodies’ elections are due in Delhi.

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has approved a slew of changes in the development control norms after which ‘will’ is no longer mandatory for the regularisation of properties in unauthorised colonies in the national capital. Now, the owner can also seek regularisation for the entire plot on which the structure is constructed.

Presently, the ownership right is granted on building footprint only. The amendments also permit the municipal body to approve the layout plan of a portion of a colony, which in turn will enable the agency to sanction building plans.

To ensure smooth and better implementation of the land pooling scheme, the ministry has also approved amendments to the Delhi Development (DD) Act which will allow the government to include land in the pool irrespective of the fact whether minimum threshold participation is achieved or not.

Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri informed about these modifications in the rules on Tuesday at a press conference. He said that the steps were being taken to resolve residual 

difficulties faced in the implementation of land pooling scheme in Delhi and in the grant of ownership rights in unauthorised colonies.

According to the ministry officials, around 1,000 applications under Pradhan Mantri - Unauthorized Colony in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yojna (PM-UDAY) have been kept under abeyance due to the unavailability of valid ‘Will’ or ‘Gift Deed’ documents. “The proposed amendment for not treating valid ‘Will’ as a mandatory document will speed up the process of disposal of cases and facilitate in increasing the number of Conveyance Deed (CD) /Authorization Slip (AS). The ownership rights will be granted for the complete land in case the property is on a private plot,” said the ministry.

The announcement made by the minister assumes significance as the municipal bodies’ elections are due in Delhi. The Delhi State Election Commission may announce election dates in a day or two.

Ministry’s take on PM-UDAY scheme

PM-UDAY, seen as a poll plank, was launched just before Delhi elections by the Centre in December 2019. “The powers to Centre to declare mandatory pooling even if minimum threshold participation has not been achieved is for ensuring time-bound planned development,” the ministry said.