Photo : Collected
The fresh design approval rate has halved due to the newly issued Floor Area Ratio (FAR) and Detailed Area Plan (DAP) by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK). Usually, 18,000-20,000 plans used to be passed in the capital every year, which has now reduced to 8,000-10,000.
An average of 2,000-2,500 plans used to be passed annually in each of RAJUK’s eight zones. Now, 1,000-1,200 plans are passed annually due to FAR and DAP issues.
According to the draft building regulations, a four-storey house can be built within 20 feet of road FAR-2 in an area. If it is below 20 feet, the FAR will be further reduced to one and a half or two quarters, where three to three-and-a-half-storey houses can be built. So, the owners are not interested in giving land.
Because of this, many landowners are talking about discrimination on the FAR issue. Businessmen have the same complaint. Abdul Motaleb, a resident of Mohammadpur area, told The Daily Messenger, “There are tall buildings on both sides of my land. There is also a new building with 10 floors. Now I can build a six-storey building because of the new rules. But there are big buildings on both sides of my house.”
The entrepreneurs in the housing sector said that RAJUK is approving the design of new buildings according to the law. Due to the decrease in new projects, the housing sector is suffering. However, RAJUK said it wants to build a liveable city with public welfare for everyone. It is with this importance that the draft building construction policy has been made.
In this regard, a RAJUK officer in charge of a zone inspector, said, “Due to the demands of traders in the housing sector, houses will be built in light of the previously approved plan. But now the height of the building and the number of flats will come according to those who will take the new plan. It will be the same if it is approved earlier.”
According to the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB), an average of 15,000 apartments were sold every year from 2010 to 2012. But the sale of flats decreased due to the implementation of DAP and the increase in the price of construction materials. In the recently concluded fiscal year 2023-24, it decreased to below 10,000.
However, the prices of flats have not decreased despite the decrease in sales. The price has gone beyond the reach of the middle class. Three years ago, flats which were priced at Tk 5,000-6,000 per square feet now cost Tk 8,000-10,000.
In this regard, Liakat Ali Bhuiyan, senior vice-president of REHAB, told The Daily Messenger, “Due to DAP, the dream of housing, which is one of the basic needs, is going beyond the reach of the middle class. Decent housing for all is becoming increasingly difficult. We are working to ensure that there is no FAR or DAP in the way of planned urbanisation.”
He also said, “According to the new rules, the number of flats will decrease with the height and size of the building. It does not pass the plan. In the future, businessmen will be discouraged from investing in the housing sector and land owners will also suffer. The government will lose a large amount of revenue.”
RAJUK’s City Planner and Project Director of DAP Ashraful Islam told The Daily Messenger, “The construction rules of 2008 were not scientific. Now there is no greenery in the city. There is no road and the good environment is decreasing. The new rules are realistic and scientific.
Traders or landowners will not suffer due to FAR being less or more. In the metro area, where there is more FAR, other facilities are more and there is an opportunity to build big buildings.”
Messenger/Fameema
