Badrul Ahsan :
The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) did no receive adequate number of applications for allotment of its largest ever housing project at Uttara mainly due to overpricing of flats and trust deficit of people, sources said.
The number of applications the city development authority received is less than five percent of its total flats. The response is cool despite several advertisements and time extension.
RAJUK, received around 200 applications against 2,500 flats out of 6,636 in block-A of the project within the deadline of 29th February 2016.
Officials, applicants and experts in the construction field blamed much higher pricing of the apartments in the current market context and lack of people’s trust in the development activities of RAJUK for the ‘poor response’.
When contacted, RAJUK Chairman GM Joynal Abedin Bhuiyan said, they are now trying to find ways to popularize the residential scheme among people.
“Yes, the response for apartments is not up to the mark. We are trying to find out way to overcome accordingly,” he said.
A senior RAJUK official preferring anonymity said that the price-fixation committee of the official developer significantly increased the rate of per square feet space to Tk 4,800 from Tk 3,500 in 2012 when it first sought applications for the apartments in Block-A.
According to the revised calculations, the value of a 1654-sqft apartment will now stand at around Tk 8.0 million instead of previous estimation of nearly Tk 5.8 million. “I think it’s one of the key factors driving people away from the offer of residence,” he said.
He also said that the project officials proposed the rate between Tk 4,000 and Tk 4,200. But the committee pressed for much higher rate, taking possible surge in the prices of construction materials into account.
“You will find a fewer buyers who can afford such expensive apartments,” he added.
Echoing the observations, an applicant pointed out another reason, that is, people do not have enough trust in the development activities due to lengthy execution of their work.
“If I am randomly selected for a flat, it will take many years to get my ready flat as we observed it in other development projects that could discourage the applicants,” he opined.
However, according to the RAJUK official, market prices of rod and cement-two key construction materials – have been going down for the last couple of years both in local and overseas markets since 2012. They said, the price of per-tonne iron rod was around Tk 56,000 in 2012, which came down to around Tk 48,000 in the local market in the current month.
Similarly, prices of cement has also gone down by Tk30 to Tk 40 per sack (50 kilograms) during the time.
RAJUK has taken up the largest apartment project in Uttara Residential Model Town to build a total of 15,000 flats with modern accommodation. Under the project, the Malaysian government will build a total of 8,400 apartments in Block-B and Block-C under G2G (government-to-government) arrangement while local construction firms will construct 6,636 more apartments in Block-A, according to project profile.
In respect of the flats in Block-B and Block-C, the master agreement between Bangladesh and Malaysia remained pending with the Ministry of Law for vetting.
The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) did no receive adequate number of applications for allotment of its largest ever housing project at Uttara mainly due to overpricing of flats and trust deficit of people, sources said.
The number of applications the city development authority received is less than five percent of its total flats. The response is cool despite several advertisements and time extension.
RAJUK, received around 200 applications against 2,500 flats out of 6,636 in block-A of the project within the deadline of 29th February 2016.
Officials, applicants and experts in the construction field blamed much higher pricing of the apartments in the current market context and lack of people’s trust in the development activities of RAJUK for the ‘poor response’.
When contacted, RAJUK Chairman GM Joynal Abedin Bhuiyan said, they are now trying to find ways to popularize the residential scheme among people.
“Yes, the response for apartments is not up to the mark. We are trying to find out way to overcome accordingly,” he said.
A senior RAJUK official preferring anonymity said that the price-fixation committee of the official developer significantly increased the rate of per square feet space to Tk 4,800 from Tk 3,500 in 2012 when it first sought applications for the apartments in Block-A.
According to the revised calculations, the value of a 1654-sqft apartment will now stand at around Tk 8.0 million instead of previous estimation of nearly Tk 5.8 million. “I think it’s one of the key factors driving people away from the offer of residence,” he said.
He also said that the project officials proposed the rate between Tk 4,000 and Tk 4,200. But the committee pressed for much higher rate, taking possible surge in the prices of construction materials into account.
“You will find a fewer buyers who can afford such expensive apartments,” he added.
Echoing the observations, an applicant pointed out another reason, that is, people do not have enough trust in the development activities due to lengthy execution of their work.
“If I am randomly selected for a flat, it will take many years to get my ready flat as we observed it in other development projects that could discourage the applicants,” he opined.
However, according to the RAJUK official, market prices of rod and cement-two key construction materials – have been going down for the last couple of years both in local and overseas markets since 2012. They said, the price of per-tonne iron rod was around Tk 56,000 in 2012, which came down to around Tk 48,000 in the local market in the current month.
Similarly, prices of cement has also gone down by Tk30 to Tk 40 per sack (50 kilograms) during the time.
RAJUK has taken up the largest apartment project in Uttara Residential Model Town to build a total of 15,000 flats with modern accommodation. Under the project, the Malaysian government will build a total of 8,400 apartments in Block-B and Block-C under G2G (government-to-government) arrangement while local construction firms will construct 6,636 more apartments in Block-A, according to project profile.
In respect of the flats in Block-B and Block-C, the master agreement between Bangladesh and Malaysia remained pending with the Ministry of Law for vetting.
