City sees increase in Planning Permissions

In 2015, the authority has issued 337 PPs (Special Buildings- Ground + 3 floors) as compared to 293 in 2014, an increase of 44 applications.

Realty developers say that going by numbers, the trend shows that the realty sector had been positive and poised for higher growth this year and in the coming years. 

According to Ajit Kumar Chordia, president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), Chennai, the increase in number of sanction of new planning permissions and renewals shows the rise in confidence level of developers. 

“You will see revival of the market with more launch of new projects from July 2015. With a lot of approvals in the recent past, a surge in the market is expected to happen. We expect a growth of 7 to 10 per cent this year,” he said. 

Pointing out that with the recent changes by CMDA for issuing planning permission like doing away scrutiny of documents by the authority, Chordia said that the time to provide PPs would also come down, which would facilitate developers to start their projects immediately after getting the PP. “With this, we will be able to start the project immediately after getting PP and complete it soon.

This will help us in minimising the duration of interest we pay for the bank loan, hence bringing down the cost of the project. We will offer the cost benefit to the customer,” he added. 

Adding to what Chordia had to say, Chitty Babu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Akshaya says that the realty market had been growing with lot of businesses happening. “We see an increase in the number projects and volume year on year. 

The recent Union Budget has given the necessary thrust to the real estate industry and as a result, we will see a positive growth of the industry in future,” he added. 

Realty developers say that the increase in bookings of housing projects in the recently concluded Fairpro also shows a revival of the market.

The three-day property expo which was held in Chennai to showcase new projects and townships surpassed expectations with sale of 322 properties. 

The expo witnessed 22,800 footfalls through online and offline registrations and the total revenue generated was about Rs. 285 crore. The developers say that this points to the fact that real estate market in Chennai has made a comeback and was poised for a steady growth in the days to come.