Five-day grace period to regularise unapproved layouts

 The statement released by S Krishnan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development Department on Saturday, came as a major respite for the owners and promoters of unapproved plots and layouts, who had missed the November 3 deadline to apply under the amnesty scheme.

According to the statement, the last date for filing the application was a public holiday and the days following up to November 6 were also public holidays on account of Deepavali. “Many representations were received to provide a further short window to file the applications,” the statement said.

“The government has decided to permit the online filing of applications for regularization of unapproved layouts and plots for five days,” the statement added. Owners can file their applications on www.tnlayoutreg.in.

For the past one week, the owners of plots in unapproved layouts and the housing department officials were in a fix and were expecting another extension. “Many plot owners approached us with many queries to which we did not have answers. Even, the official login in the website did not open,” a Corporation official said.

The official also said that the government would provide full OSR (Open Space Reserve) waiver if the applications are sent under the amnesty scheme. “If the plot owners miss the scheme deadline, they would have to pay for OSR. There are chances that the government may levy extra charge after the scheme gets over,” S Ramaprabhu, vice-chairman of Builders’ Association of India, said.