Noida:
For home buyers in Noida Extension things just got worse. With the Reserve Bank of India hiking key rates by 50 basis points yesterday, home loans will get costlier. Also, the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday gave an option to farmers to reach an out-of-court settlement by August 12, while hearing petitions of hundreds of residents of nearly a dozen villages of Gautam Buddh Nagar, landing home-buyers in a fix.
They fear that they now have to pay higher home loan interest on properties which they are not even sure of acquiring. Also, builders are threatening to charge penalty against customers whose flats are still not in dispute, if payments aren't made according to existing contracts.
Nowhere to go"I took a loan of Rs 20,00,000 for 20 years. Already I was finding it difficult to pay the interest at the existing rates but the new rate would leave a bigger hole in my pocket," said Sudarshan Jain, a teacher working in a south Delhi-based public school.
"Almost 70 per cent of the land is in dispute now. Had our property also been announced as disputed by the Allahabad High Court today, we would have stopped our installments. Now we are left with no option but to pay higher interest on the loan," said Reshma Naragn, an IT executive who booked a flat in the area.
Developers have a different take. "(It's) A step in the right direction. High Court suggested farmers and Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) to meet and decide amicably on new compensation by August 12 including Patwari village. We hope that there is a solution to the problem soon. Fate of lakhs of buyers is in the air," said an executive from Mahagun, one of the companies building flats in Noida Extension.
Meanwhile after the court's decision, GNIDA is ready to launch fresh negotiations with farmers. "Farmers will be given the benefit of new rehabilitation policy," said Rama Raman, Chief Executive Officer of GNIDA. However the decision has left the farmers disappointed. Farmer leader, Dushyant Nagar said, "We won't negotiate. We want the market rate. We first want our land back. Then we'll have more negotiating power."