18K homes stalled, delayed in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: While city-based builders claim Hyderabad as a leader in housing sales with the lowest inventory overhang, a report by a property consulting agency says that around 18,000 homes are stuck in the middle of construction within the city limits. The combined worth of these houses by the end of June this year is Rs 11,810 crore.

As per Anarock Research, Hyderabad approximately has 17,960 stalled homes, including delayed housing units. Among them, 36 per cent is in the premium segment, 31 per cent is in the luxury segment, 24 per cent in mid-range and 10 per cent in the affordable segment. Nearly 4,150 units or 35 per cent of these homes are completely stalled, which are worth Rs 2,727 crore at present.

One of the possible factors that resulted in residential project delays in the city was project approval process which was previously very long and lengthy. Since all these delayed and stuck projects were launched in 2014 or before, the approval process remained tedious back then. In fact, the long-pending bifurcation of the State then was also a major factor in the slow approval process and hence delays.

The present government is trying to smoothen the process, but much needs to be done still to make it hassle-free and quick. Another reason for delay is because few errant builders took money from the homebuyers and used it for purchasing land elsewhere. This was much before the Central Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) was introduced in the State, the report said.

However, the city-based builder fraternity condemns this report and says this culture was seen only in northern part of India. "In the past three decades, there are no delayed or stalled projects in Southern part of India, particularly in Hyderabad region. The city is doing very well, there is no doubt about it," said C Shekar Reddy, former national president of real estate body Credai.

He is currently Chairman of CII Indian Green Building Council, Hyderabad and Convener of CII Telangana Infra and Real Estate Panel. As the report identified that continued financial stress for few developers has inordinately delayed the completion of their projects, Reddy asked, "How many developers are bankrupt in the city?"

According to him, there are none in the city. He says, "The report should mention the names of stalled projects. The number of complaints against city-based builders on RERA platform is almost negligible. There may be some delayed projects due to the impact of Covid-19 during last one-and-half years, but stalled projects are almost nil either in residential or commercial ventures."

"Even the builders suffered a lot due to the pandemic and lockdowns across the country. As most of the labour left to their native during lockdowns in the first and second wave of Covid-19, the builders were not helpful. Housing ministry has extended deadline for the completion of real estate projects by up to nine months," Reddy informed.