The metropolis is likely to witness a significant rise
in housing as a large number of developers have sought approval for
residential projects.

Fewer commercial land-use and planning permissions have been issued so far, this year.

A
number of the housing projects will come up on ‘reclassified’ land.
Reclassification is the process whereby property earmarked for a
particular use — for instance, agriculture, commercial, residential — is
notified in the Tamil Nadu government gazette for alternate purpose.

While
just two reclassification proposals submitted from January-March 2013
to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) for Chennai
metropolitan area (CMA) are for commercial land-use, six pertain to
primary residential-use.

Nine of the 11 multi-storied
buildings permitted are residential and 54 of the 64 planning
permissions issued to special buildings in the CMA are for residential
purposes.

One of the largest residential buildings
permitted by CMDA this year has 1,437 dwelling units. Such data point to
a potential rise in housing stock in the CMA, said a senior official of
CMDA.

The rise in housing stock is also expected to
be matched by demand in the medium term as there are also a number of
reclassification proposals for industrial land-use. “More industrial-use
proposals may create jobs. So the housing supply is likely to match
demand because of additional jobs in the future,” said S. Santhanam,
former member-chief urban planner, CMDA.

Of the 12
reclassification proposals cleared by the technical committee in the
CMDA meeting, five have requested change to industrial land-use.

Because
of relatively higher commercial space availability in the CMA, the
number of reclassification proposals for commercial land-use is likely
to reduce further. The land-use reclassification is made according to
the provisions of Section 32 (4) of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country
Planning Act, 1971.

CMDA has given residential reclassification for land in areas such as Ayanambakkam, Ayanavaram, Perungudi, Velachery and Koladi.

Applications
for reclassification to industrial use have been made for Noombal,
Sholavaram, Sendrambakkam, Nerkundram, Pammal, Ayanambakkam, Vaikkadu
and South Perumbedu.

Requests for reclassification of
land-use zones are considered taking into account the suitability of
the site, accessibility, compatibility with adjoining developments and
impact on the environment.

Many developers have
submitted reclassification applications to the local body in areas such
as Perungudi, Velachery, Karapakkam and Perambur. These were forwarded
to the CMDA along with local bodies’ recommendations in the prescribed
format.

After detailed scrutiny of the case and ownership documents, CMDA will call for objections from the public.

This
will be followed by a notification in the Tamil Nadu Government
Gazette, completing the reclassification. A number of reclassification
applications seeking permission for residential buildings are pending
with the CMDA and are likely to be cleared in the coming months.