Many residents across the city are making use of a change in floor space index rule to demolish their stand-alone houses and construct apartments, making better use of the space and earning more rent.
Data with Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) shows that in the past three months, around 270 applications have been received for house re-development. This follows a rule change allowing increased floor space index for buildings in the city.
GCC brought in the rule change after it was given powers to sanction permissions for construction of buildings for stilt plus three floors. Zonal offices can sanction building permits up to eight kitchens, while at the headquarters, permission can be given for buildings with up to 16 kitchens.
“Earlier, GCC could give permissions only for six kitchens,” said a senior official. This delegation of powers from Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) to GCC has happened in the last two-three months, say officials. This is for areas above 5,000sqft. Permissions for number of floors are given based on the width of the road abutting the buildings, an official said.
GCC officials say this indicates how residents who were living for many decades in stand-alone houses are willing to redevelop and rent it out for residential or commercial purposes. “Senior citizens and families feel the pinch when it comes to maintenance of big houses. Many applications are coming in for houses in residential localities, who have had single houses for many years,” said an official.
S Ramaprabhu, chairman of Builders Association of India, southern centre, said this would give a fillip to the affordable housing segment in the city. “This was a long-pending demand. Though the combined building rules were issued in February, the delegation of powers was given only a few months ago,” he said.
Some corporation officials and residents, however, say this would bring a strain on the groundwater, sewage and garbage collection systems. In a redeveloped building, at least four or five families would be consuming the resources. This poses a risk of groundwater running dry, as most Chennaiites depend on borewells to meet the shortfall in Metrowater’s supply.
Ramaprabhu said the government should ensure to topup facilities, especially in sewage and water supply, as required in areas that saw such increased redevelopment.
