Mr. Rajan Jindal* & Mr. Amit Soni* invested large sums of money into land in villages near Gurgaon - Sohna – Faridabad without verifying the determined use.
Mrs. Pooja Awasthi* invested her life savings into a ‘proposed farmhouse project’ in Noida which turned out to be the Yamuna River bed (Pushta)
Mr. Rajeev Singhal* was living in a 2-acre lavish farmhouse, in the Aravali area, for the past 11 years. A bolt of lightning struck him when the authorities served him with a Demolition notice recently, as his farmhouse was constructed on Forest Land.
(*real names withheld)
How often have we seen & heard of alluring advertisements in the media, posted by Brokers & developers offering such Farm House projects. Their investment is neither liquid nor would grow.
WHY?
Most investors and farmhouse buyers in the examples above have made one basic error – They didn’t investigate the ‘determined Land Use’.
We’ll get into the details of that later in this article. Be aware that merely owning Agricultural land doesn’t guarantee approvals & license for a farmhouse, or for any non-agricultural use.
A lot many secrets are buried within Govt. notifications and court judgements which the common people don’t refer to. Maybe, those who fraudulently sell unapproved farmhouses don’t share facts with the buyers.
A few facts to consider:
- No construction is allowed, on any land, unless a valid license is granted under the building bylaws of any master plan.
- No construction is allowed on the flood embankments on the Yamuna, either in Delhi or Noida, as it is detrimental to the health of the river.
- If a Land is designated forest or uncultivable land, it doesn’t automatically qualify for development as a farmhouse.
- Every state has its governing laws for farmhouses.
- There is a distinction between farming & farmhouse activity
There was a long-standing litigation in the Supreme Court of India regarding the tenancy of non-Forest commercial use of Forest Lands covered under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) 1900. The judgement was delivered on 21st July’ 2022. The highest court of the country also considered the questions covering “Whether a land covered under a special order issued by the Govt. of Haryana under section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation act, 1900 is a ‘Forest Land’ within the meaning of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
In the above judgement, not only did the Supreme Court frame the guidelines for ‘Preventing Non-Forest activities on Forest Land’ but also ordered the removal of many illegal structures from the land. Clear guidelines & responsibilities have been laid out on proposed use of such lands.
In light of the background, how does any prospective buyer Farmhouses make an informed decision before investing their hand earned money into Land?
To start with, let’s consider the example of Delhi. Purchase of Agricultural Land is not illegal. You can buy a minimum of 01 Bigha (approx. 1008 sq. yards in Delhi) and the same can be registered & mutated in the purchasers’ name. Please be aware that the land use remains Agricultural and there is no guarantee or automatic approval for use of the said land for any ‘Non-agricultural use’. It doesn’t become a developable land till a Change of Land use (CLU) is granted, a license granted or the said land defined for any specific purpose under the respective approved & notified master plans of that geographic location.
In short, many unsuspecting land purchasers assume that they’ve bought a plot of Residential Land; what they own is a piece of land which can only be used for agricultural purpose. South Delhi is full of such ‘So-called farmhouses’ which are built on 500 – 1500 sq.yard land parcels. My considered opinion is that such dwelling units cannot seek any immunity from demolition if any adverse action is initiated.
In Noida & elsewhere, it is highly unlikely that any ‘Pucca’ construction would ever be allowed on the Yamuna riverbed. I am also given to understand that some sellers showcase log houses & other temporary structures while selling the land. Be aware that these temporary structures do not qualify as dwelling units under the building byelaws.
The least that any prospecting purchaser of farmhouse should do is to cross reference the village with the Master Plan of the city. A few questions to ask:
- Location & Zoning of the land under the master plan.
- Proposed land use in the mid to long term.
- What are the Physical infrastructure plans of the Govt. under Master plan
- Any applicability of CLU, License or other statutory compliance
- What is the minimum land area required for approvals.
- What is the other criterion like road width, water, environment, local admin & Panchayati norms etc.
- Would the land qualify for any other use in-case farmhouses aren’t allowed
Delhi master plan MPD 2041, the vision document for the development of Delhi over the next 2 decades has a clear direction for development of farmhouses, wherein the last peripheral villages has been covered under the 'Green Development Area’ (GDA) policy, wherein multiple commercial use of the land, including farmhouses, are proposed. The proposal also covers an integrated development & economic activity to align the Low Density development with the surrounding high density developments, thereby creating these GDA villages as a ‘serene Low rise oasis’.
Buyers Beware! You are investing your hard-earned money; don’t hesitate to seek advice from domain experts, especially those who understand Regulation, Law and Land. Agreed, land is the asset which would yield the highest returns, but it helps those who do their due-diligence right.
Ramesh Menon, the author, is a subject matter expert on Land & urbanization in Delhi NCR master plans
