To attract flat buyers, BDA offers two years of free maintenance

Poor public response to its flats has forced the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to change its sales strategy. It is giving a slew of offers: free maintenance of flats for two years, free drilling of borewells, and guaranteed water connection.

On November 19, 2016, the BDA invited applications from the general public for its 3,512 flats. The last date to apply was January 31, 2017. But poor response forced it to not only extend the deadline to February 27 but also reduce the domicile clause from 15 years to five years. Home buyers still seem to be uninterested.

An official in the BDA’s finance department said only 700 applications had been issued so far. “But we are not sure if these people will eventually buy the flats,” the official said.

The BDA is selling flats at Malagala (in Nagarabhavi 8th Block), Mysuru Road (opposite RV College of Engineering), Kommaghatta (adjacent to NICE Road, Kengeri), Kanminike (Mysuru Road), Doddabanahalli (in Whitefield), besides villas at Alur.

“This is the second time that applications have been called for Doddabanahalli as only 50% of the flats have been sold. We thought villas will be sold out quickly. Enquiries for villas were high at the reality expos in which the BDA took part, but the response has been poor,” another official said.

The official conceded that the BDA’s poor handling of site allotment in Arkavathy Layout coupled with demonetisation had turned home buyers away.

“We have removed the clause in the contract which states that homeowners will have to maintain the flats. We will offer free maintenance for two years. We are also bearing the cost of drilling borewells. We will also ensure that the flats get water connection,” the official said. That’s not all. The BDA will also help people to get home loans.

The official said the BDA’s participation in property exhibitions would help to dispel doubts about its flats. “Our USP will be the low prices of our flats. People can resell them at higher prices later,” he said. In all, the BDA has sold around 9,000 flats.