Owning a house in Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills is regarded as something of a status symbol, affordable only by the rich. But new building rules will change that. Now, middle class families can also own a flat in these upmarket areas as the state government has removed the “density clause” in the new uniform Building Rules-2012 issued recently.
Builders and developers can now construct small sized flats on fourth and fifth floors of a building if its height is not more than 15 metres. Previously, only four flats (four units) were allowed on the fourth and fifth floors due to the density clause. As a result, builders used to construct bigger flats of 3,000 sq. feet or more, the cost of which was easily over Rs 1.5 crore per flat.
Now, with the cap on the density clause being lifted, builders say they can construct smaller single-bedroom flats costing around Rs 40 lakh. The going rate per square foot is Rs 6,000 in several areas of Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills. At this rate, a small flat of 600 sq. ft built-up area, comprising a hall with open kitchen and a bedroom, will be available at Rs 36 to Rs 40 lakh.
Mr Ashwin Rao of Manbhum Constructions said that though builders were allowed to construct any number of flats on the first three floors of buildings in Jubilee Hills, and the density clause was confined to the fourth and fifth floors, they used to construct bigger flats on all floors to maintain uniformity and also marketability as people from the same high-end income group would not want to consort with those less well off occupying lower floors.
“It’s a win-win situation for builders and people having an ambition or a dream to buy a flat in these posh localities. From the build-ers’ point of view, it is easy to get three customers for three flats each costing less than Rs 50 lakh, than to find one customer for a flat priced at over Rs 1.50 crore.
There will be many people who would like buy a small flat in Jubilee Hills rather that a larger flat at the same price outside the city limits,” said Mr Rao.