DDA holds draw for 689 surrendered flats; 79 waitlisted applicants allotted

The DDA held a draw on Wednesday for 689 flats, under the 2021 Housing Scheme, surrendered by allottees, with a meagre 79 waitlisted applicants being allotted units from this lot, officials said.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on March 10 had allotted 1,353 flats to people under the housing scheme through a draw of lots, streamed online.

Out of these, 689 flats were surrendered by allottees, nearly 50 per cent of the total inventory under the scheme, with COVID-19 and other factors being attributed by officials for such a larger number of flats being given up.

The DDA successfully conducted draw of waitlisted applicants for its Housing Scheme 2021 on Wednesday. A total of 689 flats were included in the draw of lots and 130 waitlisted applicants, who had submitted the registration money, were considered. Seventy-nine of the 130 applicants were allotted flats according to their preference filled in the application form, the officials said.

People surrender flats due to many constraints like not getting the preferred floor, civic facilities, accessibility from main city, last-mile connectivity and transportation and safety issues.

"Covid has really hit people financially, and it is possible that it could be one factor behind so many people surrendering allotted flats. But, it's always a mix of factors," a senior official said.

Sources said the unused flats could go into the inventory of the future housing scheme.

The 2021 Housing Scheme was launched on January 2. Applications were accepted till February 16, with 1,354 flats on offer. These flats under various categories are located in Dwarka, Jasola, Manglapuri, Vasant Kunj and Rohini.

Of the over 1,350 flats, the costliest ones wre worth Rs 2.14 crore in the high-income group (HIG) category.

The maximum number of 757 flats were offered in the middle-income group (MIG) category.

Out of the 79 flats allotted on Wednesday, the units were largely in the categories of LIG and MIG. Some EWS flats and a HIG flat in Paschim Puri were allotted.

Rohini, Dwarka and Vasant Kunj were among other areas where flats were allotted by the DDA.

The draw of lots was based on random number generation system and held in the presence of independent observers comprising a retired judge and a senior officer of the Government of India, the DDA said.

The general public could view the live telecast of the draw online through webex platform, the officials said.

The last DDA housing scheme was launched in March 2019, offering nearly 18,000 flats under four categories -- 488 (HIG), 1,555 (MIG), 8,383 (LIG) and 7,496 (EWS).