MHADA to take a cut from rented flats

Days after relaxing the rules by permitting lottery winners to rent out their flats, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has dropped a bombshell on flat owners looking to rent out their flats by demanding an annual fee.

New rules: MHADA officials revoked the ban that did not allow people to give their apartments out on rent. File pic

Flat owners from the Low Income Group (LIG), Middle Income Group (MIG) and Higher Income Group (HIG) looking to rent out their homes will be asked to pay Rs 3,000, Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively as an annual retainer fee for leasing out their flats.

According to senior MHADA officials, they expect nearly 10 per cent of the total MHADA homes in the city to be rented. A rough estimate means that nearly two lakh homes would be leased, which would rake in approximately Rs 60 crore annually for the housing body from the rented flats.

Earlier this week, MHADA had decided to allow lottery winners to lease out their flats, which was earlier banned.

And to lease a MHADA flat, the owner had to wait for at least five years before putting it on the market.

After the recent policy change, however, one can lease their flat within 10 days of possession.

D K Jagdale, Joint CEO, MHADA, Mumbai Board, said, "We would charge the owners an annual fees. There are nearly 10 per cent homes that we expect will be rented after the recent change in policy."

According to a senior MHADA official, earlier flat owners would rent their homes and MHADA used to get nothing, as the deals were done clandestinely because of the law not permitting people to lease out their flats.

"With this new policy, we expect to earn revenue from people who rent their homes," said the MHADA official.

According to MHADA officials, every flat owner renting their flat will have to notify officials and if someone does not, then the transaction would be termed illegal and appropriate action would be taken against the person. u00a0

Windfall for MHADA
MHADA officials expect nearly 10 per cent of the total MHADA homes in the city to be rented. A rough estimate means that nearly 2 lakh homes would be leased. This would rake in approximately Rs 60 crore annually for the housing body