Relief for slum dwellers, the state cabinet made a crucial decision on Wednesday to reduce the flat transfer fee in slum rehabilitation units by 50%. Previously set at Rs 1 lakh, the transfer fee has now been reduced to Rs 50,000.
Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) flats are provided to slum dwellers at no cost. However, a transfer fee of Rs 1 lakh, along with stamp duty, was charged when transferring or selling the flat after the prescribed time limit. This financial burden on the flat buyer has now been alleviated with the 50% reduction, according to officials.
Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis had announced this decision at a conference of cooperative housing societies in Mumbai in May of this year. The premium is to be paid to the housing society. Fadnavis, speaking at a seminar on self-redevelopment, also mentioned the mandatory requirement for builders to pay one year’s rent in advance.
In SRA schemes, former housing minister Jitendra Award had announced in 2020 that slum dwellers could sell their houses in five years instead of the previous 10-year lock-in period. The decision resulted from recommendations made by a cabinet sub-committee formed in 2017 to review the policy on the sale and purchase of SRA tenements, headed by the then housing minister Prakash Mehta.
Under the SRA scheme, slum dwellers receive houses at no cost but are restricted from selling or renting them out for 10 years. If sold after the lock-in period, the government was entitled to an amount equivalent to stamp duty or Rs 1 lakh, whichever is higher. This amount has now been reduced to Rs 50,000, allowing slum dwellers to sell their flats after the lock-in period and use the proceeds for relocation or purchasing larger homes.