Saturday 12 September 2015

Problems concerning Property Matters




Agricultural lands cannot be directly used for residential purpose. They need to be converted for using them for residential purposes by paying conversion charges. The Special Deputy Commissioner is the competent authority to permit conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purpose. No building can be constructed on agricultural land without obtaining conversion and other approvals from the concerned authorities. Residential sites are to be formed only in the residentially converted land and such a land should be in the residential zone as per zonal regulations for getting approval for such conversion. Non converted land continues to be agricultural land. There are various restrictions on sale and purchase of agricultural land. As per zonal regulation of comprehensive development plan, the green belt area is meant only for agricultural activities. 

In Bangalore, only the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is the competent authority to approve the layout plan and to get this approval the layout should have specified road width residential area, civic and other amenities. The Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (BMRDA) is the competent authority to approve sites on the outskirts of Bangalore. 

It is very common that people in Bangalore buy house sites popularly known as “revenue sites” which are formed on the agricultural land without the approval of the competent authority for change of land use from agricultural to non-agricultural purposes under the relevant provisions of Karnataka Land Reforms Act, Karnataka Land Revenue Rules and regulations without knowing the hassles involved in buying such sites. Local agents aided by certain landlords misguide the buyers and market their revenue sites. It is illegal to form layouts and sell sites in the agricultural land / green belt area. Even after selling all the sites, RTC (Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crop Inspection) will be in the name of the original landowner.  

Difficult to get loans

If the title deeds are not clear and do not establish marketable title, it is very difficult to obtain bank loans for construction by mortgaging these sites. Generally, these sites are situated on the city outskirts. There will be no proper roads, electricity or water supply. There is no scope for immediate development and after all this, if the prices of the sites appreciate over a period of years, the original landowner will appear from nowhere and start cultivating the area. He will remove all the boundary stones laid. The purchaser will then find it difficult to identify his property. In certain cases the GPA holder sells the same sites to several persons and collects the money from all of them. Consequently, marathon litigation awaits the purchaser. The laws are so complex that they give rise to multiple interpretations.

Middlemen ride

Middlemen and the local brokers who have mastered the art of marketing motivate the innocent people to buy the revenue sites keeping them in dark of the hassles involved in the purchase of revenue sites. These middlemen normally pay a nominal sum as a token advance to the landlord and a general power of attorney is obtained from them to deal with such properties.  Thereafter, they search for the prospective purchasers.  The middle men, like double edged razors, hike the price of the land depending upon the situation while, at the same time, they do not finally settle the account of the land owner. These middlemen who consider themselves as above the law form layouts on agricultural lands without land conversion and approved layout plan from the competent authority. To increase the saleable area of sites in these layouts, they will narrow down the width of the roads.  

These layouts are formed without civic amenities and other infrastructural facilities. To attract the customers, these people make colourful brochures with photographs of certain parts of Bangalore and paint an attractive picture. Some of them even download the foreign photographs of houses from internet for their brochures. After the sale transaction is complete, the purchaser will have the bitter experience. In certain cases, the land owners in league with brokers will register some imaginary sites formed on the agricultural land using their clout and influence.

Ancestral Property

In the recital of a sale deed, it is customary to mention how the seller has acquired his title, interests and rights over the immovable property from origin to end. In case of revenue sites, the brokers have devised a very ingenious method to hide this fact. They merely mention in the recital that the property is “ancestral property” of the seller. In this way the property passes on from the GPA holder to the purchaser. 

There are several instances where the land notified for acquisition and the land granted for schedule caste people have been converted into sites, where the purchaser of such a site would not get any title of the property. Then the law stipulates that certain lands, when granted to the schedule castes, will revert to them if purchased by others. 

GPA transaction

Generally, brokers will take GPA from the landowner for the entire land.  Most of the revenue sites are registered on the strength of GPA. Very few people will take care to check the legality of the GPA executed by the original vendor. Nobody bothers to find out whether the GPA is registered or not, whether the executor of the GPA is alive or not. If the executor of the GPA is not alive the GPA transaction is totally invalid. A joint GPA executed by two owners becomes invalid if one of them dies. 

Form 9 and Form 10 

Originally, a property falling under the Village Panchayath area alone has the genuine site status. Form No.10 is for a house coming under the Gramathana Village Panchayat area and Form No.9 is for a vacant site coming under the Gramathana village panchayat area. The middlemen and some of the revenue officials make bogus Forms No.9 and 10 and register immoveable properties in favour of innocent purchasers. Earlier, when the Urban Land Ceiling Act was in force, thousands of revenue sites were registered by merely mentioning in the sale deed the description as one square asbestos sheet house. This was so done just to avoid application of the Urban Ceiling Act. After the Urban Land Ceiling Act was abolished the term ‘one square asbestos sheet house’ was also removed from the real estate agents’ dictionary.

Agent being a GPA holder will sell the sites formed in agricultural lands to the innocent purchaser. The numbers assigned to the sites by the agent will never match with the survey numbers assigned by the government to these lands. What is purchased is an imaginary site only and the purchaser of the revenue site will not get the title of the property. If the owner is a thorough gentleman then the purchaser can enjoy the property till the government regularizes such revenue sites. 

Increase of Stamp Duty

It is a trend in property sector that market rates increase when guide line value is hiked. The guide line value will then increase to be at par with market value. This is a vicious circle. Further, the government adopts two ways to increase the stamp duty and registration charges One is by increasing the guide line value and another is by increasing the stamp duty and registration charges. In one year government has increased the guide line value, next year it may increase the stamp duty and registration charges on the pretext of being long overdue. The duties in Karnataka are already higher when compared to other States. The abnormal and un-reasonable duties will only make the people to search for other routes, and government may loose much revenue. 

Under Government notification dated 16.1.2007, seven CMCs and one TMC and several villages surrounding Bangalore have been brought under the jurisdiction of Bangalore Manahanagara Palike making it to be called as Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike. With this increase in the area and the population, the responsibility and the authority of the BBMP have increased manifold.  But the BBMP has failed to rise to the expectation.  These 2/3rd new areas of Bangalore are not regularized and the civic amenities in these areas are unheard of even though sufficient time has elapsed after their merger.

Revenue collections of the BBMP also are on the southwards since no systematic collection of revenue in these areas is commenced.

An analysis of the progress of development of infrastructure would go to show that the authorities and the political bosses have not done their homework with all zeal and zest or they have stretched their activities beyond their capacity with the only aim being to present Bangalore as an International city.  

The need of the hour is to set right the mistakes committed hitherto and  to streamline the supply and demand of real estate in a scientific way.

Friday 11 September 2015

ALL ABOUT DIVIDING FAMILY PROPERTY




Properties and human beings are inseparable. With progress and social change over the ages the urge to own property, wealth has acquired demonic proportions. In the present day world, immovable properties are the most valued assets one can possess.

The desire to own material possessions reared its head in the inquisitive mind of the Stone Age man. Thus women, children came to be his first personal assets, followed by immovable properties. While literacy and social outlook have elevated the status of women and children, there has been no change worth the name as to the status of immovable property as the personal asset of the human being. So long this state of affairs continues problems relating to property transfer will persist. From Stone Age to cement age, it has been a long haul.
What is Partition? 

Partition is division of property held jointly by co-owners. When a property is divided each member becomes sole owner of his portion of the property. Each divided property gets a new title and each sharer gives up his or her interest in the estate in favour of other sharers. Therefore, partition is a combination of release and transfer of certain rights in the estate except those, which are easements in nature.

Partition is neither a gift nor a transfer of property. It merely breaks a joint right into several rights. It is not acquisition of property or exchange of property. It is a combination of release and conveyance of the rights of the property in favour of individuals. And therefore it can be effected orally. Partition is not transfer but when it assumes the form of transfer, the intention may be to hoodwink the creditors.

The basic character of joint Hindu family is that each member has inherited title to the property by birth. Each member has joint title to the entire property and that joint enjoyment of the title is converted by partition into separate title of the individual co-owner for his enjoyment. Therefore, it is now an established fact that partition is not transfer, but transformation of joint property.

There are some properties, which cannot be divided physically. If physical division is not possible, partition can still be effected by paying cash or other assets to a sharer in lieu of his or her share in the property. Such situation arises when the division of an estate is considered to be dangerous and unreasonable, and when such division dilutes the inherent value of the property, or when the immovable property is too small for division.

The instrument of partition is a document by which the co-owners of a property agree to divide the property among themselves by oral agreement or written agreement or by arbitration or through court. If a document of release shows that the executants are to get cash or other assets, the document is an instrument of partition. The basis of partition is equality. The parties shall share the property equally.

If there is no agreement among the co-owners for amicable division of the property, the only alternative is to sell the property by mutual consent or by court decree and distribute the sale proceeds among the co-owners. Any of the co-owners may also enforce partition through Court.

In a partition suit a court may have decreed partition of the property in the interest of the co-owners. But if it is found that the sale of the property and distribution of the proceeds to the co-owners is more beneficial, the court can at the request of the shareholders direct sale of the property and distribution of the proceeds to the co-sharers.

There are three types of co-owners: Joint tenants or tenants-in-common; Hindu Joint Family owners or coparceners; partners of a partnership firm.

Under the Hindu Law in general everyone being a co-owner in a joint ownership has a right to claim his share and such right cannot be denied to him if the property is held as joint tenants. Since joint tenancy is unknown to Indian law, there is not much difference between joint tenancy owners and tenants-in-common.

Christians and Muslims hold properties as tenants-in-common or as joint tenants and partition of such immovable property can happen by mutual consent or by partition deed or by court decree or arbitration.

Partition in Hindu law covers two aspects. One is the division of the status of the members and the other is the division of the joint family property. In the former case, the members are divided according to heir standing in the joint family and in the latter case division of joint family property into separate shares. Share of a member depends on the status he enjoys in the family. These are interlinked.
Partition must be according to law. If a minor gets less shares than he is entitled to in law, the partition is defective and he can re-open the same when he attains majority. If a member gets more than his share in a property, the excess received will be treated as a gift.

It is not necessary that all co-owners agree to partition. When a member desires partition, the property is divided into two portions one for the separating one according to his status and share and the rest jointly for the others. Though oral partition is allowed under Hindu Law, it is not preferable as it may give rise to disputes particularly with respect to immovable properties. It is advisable oral partition should be reduced in writing (palu patti). Also, the Income Tax Act does not recognize oral partition of a Hindu Family property unless the Income Tax Officer is satisfied with the facts and this is possible only when it is recorded in partition deed.

Effects of Partition:

When a property is divided into more than two parts, the co-owners of the different portions shall agree to hold their portions separately as absolute owners and each of them shall make a grant to release his share from portions give to others.

Necessary covenants in a partition deed are about encumbrances on the property, quiet enjoyment, custody and production of title deeds, easements of necessity payment of rent and taxes and performance of other conditions of lease, if any, etc.

Partition of joint property is not an exchange. If it is reduced into writing, it must be registered in case of immovable properties. Deed of partition requires registration. Mere writing of previous partition does not require registration. Mere list of properties allotted to different co-owners does not require registration.

Unregistered deed of partition though not admissible in evidence to prove the fact of partition, cannot be used to prove that a particular property was allotted to a particular co-owner as his share. 

Partition means collapse of joint ownership. It destroys the harmony of joint ownership and of possession. A large property falls into pieces over a generation or two. The land is very much there in bits and pieces in the name of different owners.


The Stamp Duty payable on partition varies from state to state. In Karnataka, it depends on nature of property.  

In case of partition of movable property, it is Rupees Two Hundred and Fifty for each share. 

If the property is converted for non-agricultural purpose or meant for non-agricultural use, it is Rupees One Thousand for each share in jurisdiction of Municipal Corporation, Urban Development Authority, Municipal Councils or Town Panchayats and Rupees Five Hundred per share in other areas. 

The partition of agricultural land attracts stamp duty of Rs.Two Hundred Fifty for each share. If the property involved in partition is combination of any categories mentioned above, the stamp duty is maximum of the duties prescribed. 

In case an agreement of partition is executed and the partition follows in pursuance of such agreement, the stamp duty payable on partition deed is reduced to the extent of duty paid on agreement; but shall not be less than Rupees Fifty. 

The partition should not be mistaken with partnership. Partnership is coming together of persons, whereas partition is parting of persons. 

Thursday 10 September 2015

Burden on Flat Purchasers




Finance Minister Sri. P. Chidambaram placed the budgetary proposals before the parliament on 28/02/2005. On reading the fine print and analysis of various proposals the euphorbia generated on the day of presentation of budget has gradually disappeared Though Finance Minister has assured to look into some of proposals, which are likely to adversely effect the business he is firm that there will no major roll back. Sri. P. Chidambaram seems to be following the footsteps late Morarji Desai who taxed everything, but disguised them in flowery language.

Blow to Construction of residential Sector:
Unfortunately the union budget has treated the construction sector badly. The union budget has included the some additional services in the service tax net; like site formation, demolition, and like services of survey of land and making maps, construction of planned residential completes with more than 12 dwelling units developed by the builder. The service tax is 10% with 2% education cess. Thus the effective tax would be 10.20%.

Not a Burden to Builder:
The service tax will be collected by the service provider, that is builder. But he will pass on the tax component to the purchaser of residential units, thus it is the end user who will ultimately suffers.

Apart from passing the service tax component to the purchaser, the builder enjoys certain tax exemptions on full profits earned in developing and building housing projects under section 80-IB of Income Tax Act. The exemptions are allowed subject to certain conditions, such as 
1. The project should have a plot area of minimum one acre.
2. Residential unit should have maximum built up area of 1000 sft in Delhi, Mumbai and 1500 sft in other areas.
3. The built up area for commercial and shopping should not exceed 5% or 2000 sft whichever is less.
4. The project should have approved before 31 March 2007 and should be completed within four years from the end of the financial year in which project was approved.

Further minimum plot area requirement of one acre is waived in case of housing projects carried out in accordance with the schemes framed by central or state governments for reconstruction of or redevelopment of existing buildings and notified by the board in this behalf for redevelopment of such dwellings. The exemption is allowed for five years on 100% profits. Thus on compliance of certain conditions builder need not pay any income tax on the profits earned on construction of dwelling units; and passes on the service tax to the purchasers. So levy of service tax on flats is not a burden to the builder who coolly pockets the profits, which are exempted from income tax.

Purchaser will suffer:
The ultimate man who has to bear all the load is the enduser, who at most times might have spent all his life time earnings to have a roof over his head. Not only the service tax, but other decisions of government has exposed the purchaser to higher expenditure.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has recently decided to allow 100% foreign direct investment in construction sector; where the minimum area to be developed is 25 acres (10 hectares) in case of serviced housing plots. Already owing to various restrictions on approval of layouts, prohibition on betterment charges in the city/town municipal areas the price of lands have increased by 50% in the last six months around the city. With allowance of 100% FDI in construction sector, the price of the land will further increase around Bangalore. 

25% Duties:
In certain cases old structures have to be demolished. The lands have to be surveyed and mapped. The builder starts construction of multi-storied apartment after approval of plan. Many times each of the above activities are done by different agencies and each activity attracts services tax of 10% and education cess of 2%. The budget has proposed to exempt service providers whose gross annual turnover does not exceed 4 lakhs, but this exemption is a pittance for construction sector. Seldom a builder/promoter prefers to construct less than 12 dwelling units. With increase in land price and levy of service tax on construction and related activities, the cost of dwelling units will increase making it not easily affordable by end users. Apart from actual purchaser price of the flat, the purchaser has to bear 10% towards Stamp Duty and Registration Charges, 4% towards sales tax, and 10.20% towards service tax and expenditure towards Katha, tax assessment etc, thus purchaser has to pay nearly 25% of purchase price towards various taxes, duties and levies. May the middle class may have to forget about owning a flat and settle for a small houses like sardine packs, without any proper facility.


Wednesday 9 September 2015

BANGALORE PROPERTIES




Most of the Bangalore’s property title documents are very complicated.  It is because some of the very old documents are not available with the parties, or fast development of the City many unauthorized layout, constructions have come without complying with the statutory requirements, getting permission from the statutory authority, get this permission from Statutory Authorities is also very complicated  process in Bangalore.  The properties available at Bangalore and surroundings may be classified as BDA, BMP, Housing Co-operative Society, City Municipal Council, Private Layouts, Gramathana Sites and Revenue Sites.

Development Authorities are : -


2. Bangalore Development Authority (BDA)

3. Karnataka Housing Board

4. Karnataka Slum Clearance Board

5. Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation

6. Bangalore Water Suppluy and Sewerage Board for the peripheral areas and City Municipal Councils under the BDA, 

7. Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development (B M R D A)

8. Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Finance and Development Corporation

BDA Properties :   These are the properties acquired by Bangalore Development Authority through legal process and allotted to the applicants.  Legally, these properties are best provided  all the documents are available.  In this case the tracing of the title need not go beyond  the acquisition of the property by BDA. Tracing Title from the date of allotment will be sufficient for this.

BMP Properties : These are properties falling within the jurisdiction of Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.  These properties are generally owned by individuals acquired through inheritance, partition, gift etc.  Vacant sites are very few in this category.  The title of the property is to be traced to its origin for a period of not less than 43 years and each and every document of transfer, revenue documents such as Khata endorsement, Khata certificate, tax paid receipt, and approved building plans should be examined other than general documents.

Housing Co-operative Society Properties :  These properties may be placed at par with BDA sites.  Housing Co-operative Societies acquire the land through Government or development agencies like BDA.  They form the layouts, which are approved by statutory bodies and allot to its members.  Bye-laws, Registration details of the Society have to be examined apart from any prohibition on alienation of the property and eligibility criteria for allotment.  If there is any restriction on alienation during certain period, no objection certificate from society is a must.  Most important is one has to examine whether the Society is approved or not.  As per Supreme Court presently Government or B.D.A. is not empowered to acquire the property on behalf of Housing Co-operative Societies.

City Municipal Council Properties:   There are  8 local bodie, surrounding Bangalore.  They are 7 City Municipal Councils and one Taluk Municipal Council, Bommanahalli, Bytarayanapura, Yelahanka, Dasarahalli, Pattanagere, Raja Rajeshwari nagar


Tuesday 8 September 2015

REVENUE AND AGRICULTURE LAND




What are RTC and Mutation Extracts?

RTC means Record of Right, Tenancy and Inspection of crops. This is a primary record issued by village Accountant. It contains the details of survey number, total extent of the land, names of the persons who are the owners and their extent of holding, persons in possession and details of crops grown and land revenue for any particular period. It also contains the details of conversion of land from agriculture to non-agricultural purpose.

Mutation extract is an extract from the mutation register maintained by the Village Accountant. It records the transfer of land and the mode of such transfer, recommendations of the enquiry Officer for such transfer, date of entry of transfer and the record of rights.

Explain the terms like Village Map, Genealogical Tree?

Village map is a sketch, which gives the complete details of lands, houses including the gramathana sites, survey numbers, and house numbers and roads falling within the jurisdiction of the village. The survey department issues the village map.

Genealogical tree is also called the family tree of any given person. It gives the details of the family, like names of the wife/wives of any given person, details of his children, grand children and so on.  It would help to trace the flow of the property and succession.  The Village Accountant issues the genealogical tree.

What is Tippani, Akarband?

Both the documents are issued by survey department. Tippani shows the sketch of the land as in the records of survey department. 

Akarband establishes the survey number with name of the person to whom the particular survey number was originally allotted and land revenue assessment details.

Define 79 A & B of land reforms act endorsements?

These endorsements are issued by Tahasildar. These endorsements certify that there are no cases against the person owning the agricultural land and whether he or she is an agriculturist or not conforming to the prescriptions of section 79 A&B of Karnataka Land reforms Act 1961, since only agriculturists, agricultural labourers are entitled to own the agricultural lands, in Karnataka.

What is Form No. 7 endorsement?

The endorsement is issued by the Tahasildar. This endorsement certifies that there are no tenancy cases pending in respect of the property in question as per the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961.

What is Saguvali Chit?

The Saguvali Chit is also called the Certificate of grant. This is issued in form No. VII as per rule 29 of Karnataka Land grant rules in case of grant of government land to eligible persons for cultivation. 

This establishes the title of the person named in the Saguvali Chit to the land granted. A sketch of the land granted will be annexed to the Saguvali Chit.

The grant of the land is subject to the conditions detailed in the Saguvali Chit.

What are Survey, Survey number, Survey mark?

Survey means the process to determine the measurement and record of boundary or boundaries of part of boundary.
Survey number means, a portion of land of which the area and assessment are separately entered under an indicative number in land records.  Sub division of survey number means a portion of survey number of which the area and assessment are separately entered in land records under an indicative number subordinate to the survey number of which it is a portion.  This is also called as “Hissa” number.

Survey mark means any mark or objects erected, made or employed to indicate level of the property while determining the position of the boundaries. 

What is patta book?

This is a record supplied to the holder of agricultural land including tenant if he is primarily liable to pay land revenue and contains a copy of record of rights of such land.

The book also contains information regarding the payment of land revenue and other government dues and information of cultivation.


What are Revenue Sites?

Sites formed on agricultural lands are revenue sites. They are unauthorised sites, which cannot be used for any non-agricultural purpose, residential houses.


Can one purchase a Revenue Site and construct a house?

The sites formed on agricultural lands, cannot be used for residential purpose. They remain as agricultural lands. Only agriculturist or agricultural labour is eligible to purchase agricultural lands. There are income restrictions also. Agriculturists, whose income from non-agricultural source is less than two lakhs are eligible to purchase and own agricultural lands. Others need government permission. Further, such lands have to be used only for agriculture, unless converted. Constructions of houses are not permitted.

What is conversion?

As per Karnataka Land Reforms Act, if any agricultural land has to be used for other purpose, it needs permission from Government of Karnataka. The Government permits such change of use on payment of prescribed fees for some specific purpose, like residential, commercial, and industrial. The special deputy commissioners are authorised officials to permit the conversion. The fee has to be remitted towards the government. The conversion is subject to various conditions such as provision for roads etc. The land has to be utilised for the converted purpose only and within the stipulated time.

How revenue land be used for residential purpose?

The Revenue Land has to be converted for residential purpose. After conversion of the agricultural land to the residential purpose, the assessment of the land has to be done by the local authority like Gram-panchayat, City Municipal Council, etc., for house site. The layout thus formed has to be approved by the statutory authorities like BMRDA, BDA.

How to detect the Revenue Sites and approved residential sites?

All the documents of the property, origin of title, RTC extracts, mutation extracts, conversion orders, paid conversion fee receipts, have to be examined. If the land is converted, it should be reflected in RTC. Further, tax payments receipts discloses the nature of the tax paid, whether land revenue or property tax. Revenue Lands have survey nos. and are mentioned in areas and guntas; whereas, residential sites have site numbers and mentioned in square feet. An experienced advocate would be helpful owing to the complexity of the different documents.

What are the consequences of purchasing a Revenue Site by a non-agriculturist?

The very acquisition of revenue site (agricultural land) is against the law. The Karnataka Land Reforms Act makes it very clear that such purchase is null and void. If any non-agriculturist purchases revenue site (agricultural land), he is duty bound to inform the details of land and his annual income to the jurisdictional Tahsildar within 90 days from the date of purchase. The Tahsildar after enquiry will forward the details to the deputy commissioner. The deputy commissioner will notify that such lands shall stand transferred to and vest in the State Government, from some specified date without any compensation. Many form such as no. 9 & 10 issued are false, and the original revenue records remain in the name of the Original owner. In case of acquisition by BDA / KHB / government the original owner will get the compensation and not the purchaser.
Further, though the form nos. 9 & 10 mentions the site no. and area in square feet, the original records continue to mention survey numbers and area in Acres and Guntas. It would be very difficult to identify the exact site, its area and boundaries and link with form no. 9 & 10.

Is it possible to register a Gramathana site having Form No. 9 & 10?

Yes, it is possible to register the site. However, it is duty of the purchaser to look into the title before purchase of the property. Generally the Gramathana sites do not have Sy. no. and reference title  is the most important aspect of the verified from origin, flow and  present  status. The vendor having a title can transfer the property by way of registration. If he has a defective title he will transfer only the defective title. It is the duty of the purchaser to look into the title thorough an advocate who is having specialized knowledge on property legal aspects.

Is it possible to change the land use?

According to the Comprehensive Development Plan, usage of lands is earmarked as residential, commercial, park, semi-park, public etc.
 One has to make a request, for the change of the land use, which should be justified according to the development in that area. Change of the land use may be given by the BDA after considering various factors. However green belt area cannot be changed.

What do you mean by Conversion Order?

Utilizing agricultural land for any other purpose is prohibited. If anyone makes a layout without conversion, it is an illegal act and a serious violation of the provisions of law. Therefore, agricultural land, which does not come under Green Belt, can be converted for residential purpose as per the zonal regulations.

Who can buy an agricultural land?

In Karnataka agricultural land can be bought after fulfilling 3 requirements. They are: (1) the annual average income of the person including agricultural income, should be less than Rs. 2 lakh. (2) The person must have an agricultural land in his name before the year 1974. (3) The person should be an agriculturist or an agricultural labour by profession.

What is the meaning of CDP?

CDP is the short form for Comprehensive Development Plan. This is formulated by the Government. Under this Plan Bangalore Metropolitan Area has been divided into various zones, such as Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Green Belt, and others.

What do you mean by Zonal Regulation?

Any development must conform to the land use of the zone in which it is located. One cannot construct a commercial building in an area earmarked for residential purposes. The Zonal Regulation regulates the height of the buildings, formation of layouts etc.