02 - 08 - 2021 CREDAI Bengal Daily News Update | 02.08.21 WEST BENGAL NEWS Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online ) Date August 01, 2021 Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/august-rain-alert- prompts-kolkata-civic-body-to-turn-focus-on-dilapidated-buildings/84942388 August rain alert prompts Kolkata civic body to turn focus on dilapidated buildings Borough executive engineers were asked to take stock of the condition of the insecure buildings following the partial collapse of five unsafe houses across the city in the past six days. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation buildings department has sent an alert to borough executive engineers, asking them to keep a close watch on highly vulnerable buildings in their areas after a fresh caution for rain in August was issued. Borough executive engineers were asked to take stock of the condition of the insecure buildings following the partial collapse of five unsafe houses across the city in the past six days. The first collapse, that of a portion of a century-old building, was reported from Bhowanipore last Sunday. This was followed by a series of collapses in areas, such as Girish Park, Jorabagan and Mudiali. Incessant rain could lead to many more such accidents in the days to come, felt a civic engineer. According to a KMC buildings department engineer, the reason behind the collapse of a large number of buildings lies in the fact that most of these are century-old and made of lime and mortar. “Instead of using cement, most of these century-old buildings were constructed with lime. When water seeps into the structures after a heavy spell of rain or even incessant drizzle, followed by a sunny morning, the lime used as cementing agent weakens leading to the collapse,” the civic engineer said. With the monsoon still active in the region, the KMC engineers are keeping their fingers crossed. A section of the KMC buildings department officials even cautioned that major accidents could take place in the absence of proper repair of the dangerous buildings. “We have reasons to feel worried about the fate of residents who, despite our repeated appeals, have continued to live in the dilapidated buildings that may collapse in monsoon. Urgent repairs need to be taken up for most of the buildings we have termed ‘insecure’ after examining their structural stability,” said a KMC buildings department official. According to the official, the civic body was particularly worried about the fate of 80 highly dilapidated buildings located mostly in north and central Kolkata. Some of these buildings are located in areas, such as Cossipore, Chitpore, Burrabazar, Burtolla, Shyampukur, Beadon Street, Bidhan Sarani and Pathuriaghata Street. There were also a considerable number of old and dilapidated structures in south Kolkata, like Bhowanipore, Lake Road, Kidderpore which needed urgent repairs, a civic official said. “We are keeping a vigil over some of these structures. We have already issued notice to them, asking the tenants residents to vacate them,” a KMC buildings department official said. ________________________________________________________________ Newspaper/Online ET Realty ( online ) Date August 02, 2021 Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/residential/bidhannagar- civic-body-to-make-extra-floor-appeal-for-salt-lake-houses/84963879 Bidhannagar civic body to make extra floor appeal for Salt Lake houses “We have been receiving requests from many residents for permission to construct more rooms on the top of their houses. We have already spoken with the urban development minister on this matter and will make a fresh appeal,” said BMC board of administrators chairperson Krishna Chakraborty on Sunday. The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will make a fresh appeal to the state urban development department to allow Salt Lake residents to construct an extra floor on the top of their houses. “We have been receiving requests from many residents for permission to construct more rooms on the top of their houses. We have already spoken with the urban development minister on this matter and will make a fresh appeal,” said BMC board of administrators chairperson Krishna Chakraborty on Sunday. Civic officials said that a fresh proposal on allowing an additional floor in residential houses across Salt Lake will need to be drafted. As per the present floor area ratio (FAR), the plots measuring below four cottahs in the township allow only two-storey buildings to be constructed while a maximum of G+3 building can be set up on the plots measuring above four cottahs, along with the provision to have only one additional room and one extra toilet only, said a BMC building department official. Officials said that a proposal had been made earlier for allowing the construction of additional floors but it was not approved for different reasons. “It was way back in 2010 that a draft proposal had been made by the civic body and the state urban development department had even allowed an extra floor in Salt Lake houses. Later, Bidhannagar Municipality had turned down the matter, stating that it would severely put pressure on the township’s sewerage and drainage system. The drainage and sewerage network has now been upgraded to withstand the pressure of extra floors,” said a BMC official. Previously, the Bidhannagar Municipality had allowed the residents to construct an additional room and an attached bathroom. “In 2007, it was incorporated in the building rules of the civic body to allow a watchman’s room and a toilet in the houses on the parking floor and allow the same at the roof in those houses, which did not have any parking floor,” said a BMC official. Bidhannagar Municipality became a municipal corporation in 2015. ________________________________________________________________ OTHER NEWS Newspaper/Online Money Control ( online ) Date August 01, 2021 Link https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/real-estate/covid-19-impact-the- great-suburban-shift-7255861.html COVID-19 impact:The great suburban shift With work-from-home continuing, buyers are taking advantage of a low mortgage regime to buy houses in the suburbs, willing to commute longer for the sake of affordability and bigger spaces. In the US, people who live in pigeon-hole rented spaces in the metros have started buying property in the suburbs, where prices are affordable. They’re willing to travel the extra distance once offices reopen after COVID-19 wanes. Walking to work and higher property prices in the metros are gradually giving way to longer commutes and affordable prices in the outskirts of town. Buyers don’t seem to mind. They get more space and better facilities at lower prices. With work-from-home likely to continue for some time, they don’t mind making the occasional twice-a-week commute to their offices in the central business districts, if it comes to that. The scenario in India is no different. Here, too, buyers now prefer the longer commutes and affordable bigger homes to expensive rental accommodation near the workplace. Take the case of Jayant Sharma, a pilot. After the family house in New Delhi’s Paschim Vihar was sold for Rs 8 crore, he bought a three-bedroom apartment on Golf Course Extension Road in Gurgaon with his share of Rs 2 crore. A management professional working in Cyber Hub in Gurgaon moved to Dwarka Expressway, where he bought a three-bedroom unit for about Rs 1.5 crore. He earlier paid rent of Rs 45,000. His commute time has increased to about 50 minutes from 20 minutes, but he doesn’t mind. There’s another trend playing out. Before the pandemic, home prices in metro areas, especially those located close to offices, had been rising. However, rentals have dropped as people shifted to the suburbs and capital values have declined. This has proved attractive for a small set of people who purchased property in the periphery earlier and can now upgrade to locations close to the commercial districts. Pankaj Shah, an economist working in Mumbai, sold his two-bedroom house in Kandivali and upgraded to a three-bedroom property in Andheri. The owner was desperate to sell the property as rental yields had declined. In the post-pandemic world, the peripheral areas of cities are front and centre on the radars of homebuyers. Many such micro-markets, where demand was muted before the pandemic, are now seeing renewed demand and supply. The desire to live in or close to the heart of the city with offices and schools nearby has faded with the advent of working and studying from home. “Homebuyer preferences have changed perceptibly,” said Anuj Puri, chairman of Anarock Property Consultants. “Developers quickly changed track and those with land banks in the peripheries, and even otherwise, saw it as an opportune time to launch new projects there. It’s very likely that some of the major office occupiers will soon decentralise and bring their offices closer to their employees’ homes in these peripheries.” Mani Rangarajan, Group COO of Housing.com, Makaan.com and Proptiger.com, agreed, saying demand surged after the first wave of COVID-19. “It is a sheer question of affordability and the amenities available within the neighbourhood. People are looking at larger houses and with the mortgage regime and interest rates being low, affordability has increased,” Rangarajan said. “Healthcare infrastructure has gained importance during the pandemic and proximity to the same is becoming the most sought-after amenity.” New launches concentrated in peripheral locations It’s not surprising, then, that new projects are concentrated in peripheral locations. According to JLL India, new launches in the Mumbai residential market increased by 33 percent to 6,143 units in the second quarter of 2021 from 4,616 units in the first quarter. While sales in the city remained at about Q1 levels, transactions were mainly in the range of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore, equivalent to 40 percent of sales.