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“The system is an attempt to structure the pricing of land in the State in a methodical and scientific way. It will be an impetus for the growth of the real estate industry,” says Nithyananda Kamath, secretary, Kerala Builders’ Forum Kozhikode chapter.

He says the builders hope that the government will reduce the stamp duty by six per cent once the system comes into force. “As of now, land dealers are quoting higher prices for land and registering it at a lower price. This widespread malpractice will certainly come to an end,” he says.

Builders will get land at reasonable prices. Apartments can be offered to clients without burdening them with high prices. Genuine home builders will also benefit. “However, short-term land brokers will have a tough time re-selling the land they had purchased at higher prices,” Mr. Kamath says.

Fair value of land has been proposed for 1,452 villages in the State. Several aspects have been considered for determining the value. Land in each village has been divided into 15 categories fixed by taking into account factors such as commercial importance; access to National Highway, State Highway and other major roads; facilities for water supply, electricity, transport and communication; and proximity to market, bus stand, hospital and educational institutions.

In some cases, pieces of land with the same survey number are in different categories. Thus, the value of them will be different. The Revenue Divisional Officers (RDOs) coordinated activities with the village officers to fix the land value.

Fundamentally, land across the State has been categorised as dry land, wasteland, wetland and garden land. Earlier, it was classified into just wetland and garden land.

“Fair value does not mean the exact market value. It means the correct value of land according to government stipulations,” says P.S. Mohammed Sagir, Revenue Divisional Officer.

Proposals for fair value have been made in 117 villages in Kozhikode district. There are 55 villages in Kozhikode taluk. The other taluks are Koyilandy and Vadakara.

The three villages in the limits of Kozhikode city are Nagaram, Kacheri and Kasaba.

The highest prices are proposed on the busy Mavoor Road and the commercial Sweet Meat Street.

The comprehensive notification for the fair value of land will help to root out corruption at sub-registrar’s offices. The registrar will have no power to revise the value after it has been registered. Sub-registrars, at present, are empowered to revise the land value after registration. Another salient feature is that the system makes it easy for the government to determine government-owned land based on survey numbers.

Stamp duty is expected to come down. As of now, the stamp duty at the corporation level is 13.5 per cent; municipality, 12.5 per cent; and grama panchayat, 10 per cent, Mr. Sagir said.

Copies of the Gazette have been made available at the offices of the RDO and sub-registrar, taluk office, village office and local body office. The public will get 60 days to file complaints or make suggestions.

The RDO will try to solve these complaints. A final notification will be issued based on these feedbacks.

The Herculean task of publishing the fair values on the Internet has been kept on hold for the time being. However, the Registration Department will take steps to post them on its web site.

As regards reducing the stamp duty, the Cabinet will decide only after the final notification on fair value has been published.

Land dealers in the State deliberately undervalue land so as to get concession in stamp duty.

Usually, undervaluation makes a dent in the revenue of the State government.

Mr. Kamath says that two years ago, the Centre advised State governments to cut stamp duty to at least 6 per cent so as to facilitate property builders to take up new housing projects.

“As of now, many clients have no option but to delay the registration process hoping that the government will reduce stamp duty. Earlier, builders had only to pay stamp duty for the whole apartment. Now the new rule is individual units will be taxed,” he says.

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