Chandigarh housing scheme delayed by seven to eight months

The Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has announced a delay in launching its Sector 53 housing scheme. The delay is expected to last seven to eight months. CHB's CEO, Ajay Chagti, has requested the engineering department to reduce the number of flats for those in the economically weaker section (EWS). A demand survey conducted from February 22 to March 3 showed strong interest in the scheme. The survey received 7,468 applications for 372 available flats across three categories. This includes 5,081 applications for three-bedroom high-income group (HIG) units, 1,269 for two-bedroom middle-income group (MIG) units, and 1,118 for EWS flats. The previous scheme, introduced in 2018, received only 178 applications, leading to its cancellation due to high prices. This time, interested applicants have paid a fee of ₹10,000 for HIG and MIG units and ₹5,000 for EWS units, which will count as earnest money when the scheme officially launches. The survey was ordered by UT Chief Secretary Rajeev Verma after a presentation on the scheme’s revival was made in January 2025. The CHB previously scrapped the original scheme due to poor demand, as the prices were considered too high. In February 2023, prices were reduced, but the scheme was put on hold later that year. New hope for the scheme came in November 2024 with instructions from the new UT administrator to update the plan.