DDA FREEHOLD CONVERSION

The terms Leasehold and Freehold are used in connection with land property. They represent two different ways in which properties can be owned. One of the first problems which people come across when buying a house is understanding the difference between leasehold and freehold. They may take wrong purchasing decisions without understanding the difference between these terms.

Difference Between Freehold & Leasehold

• Freehold confers full rights of ownership of the property and the land on which it stands to the buyer whereas in case of a leasehold property, the buyer does not become the owner but only gets the right to enjoy the property. In other words, buyer of lease hold property will only be a Tenant/Lessee and the ownership of the property will belong to that agency who has granted lease hold rights such as D.D.A., Land and Development Office, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Directorate of Industries, Slum & J.J./Delhi Shelter Board etc. 
• Buyer of a leasehold property has to bear additional annual Lease money/Ground rent costs whereas a freehold property buyer does not have to make any such payment except Property tax payable to the Municipal Corporation by all the property owners of freehold as well as lease hold property.

• The ownership of a Freehold property is transferred forever whereas, in case of a leasehold property, it is for a fixed period of time mentioned in the lease deed of the property. Generally  the lease is granted for 99 years.
• Conversion of a property from Leasehold to Freehold, increases the value of the property by 15%-20%.

Who can apply for Freehold Conversion ?

• Any person who is the original Allottee and whose name appears in the records of DDA or L&DO can apply for the conversion. If there is more than one lessee, all of them will have to sign the application for Freehold conversion. 
• Any person who is a holder of power of attorney can also apply for the Freehold conversion by specifying in the application, the name of the person in whose favour conversion is sought to be done. If there are a series of power of attorneys, then attested/certified copies of the entire chain of power of attorneys has to be submitted along with the application. 
• The person applying for Freehold conversion shall have to give a proof of possession of the property such as electricity bill, water bill,  telephone bill, etc.
• In case of conversion of co-operative group housing society flats, the applicant shall also have to furnish a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the respective Co-operative Group Housing Society.
• Property can be converted from leasehold to Freehold, even if there is an unauthorised construction or any misuse on payment of damages or misuse charges. However, if there is any unauthorised encroachment on public land, conversion would not be permitted.
• If the power of attorney holder has died, his legal heir can apply for the conversion process.
• Property will be converted from leasehold to Freehold only after the applicant has cleared all dues like all installments, ground rents, misuse charges, damages, etc.
• The jurisdiction of L&DO extends to the entire New Delhi, Central Delhi and colonies which were in existence or were developed at the time of partition of India for providing residence to the refugees that had come to India from Pakistan at the time of partition and covers areas such as Tilak Nagar, Malviya Nagar, Ramesh Nagar, Jangpura, Moti Nagar, Patel Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Model Town etc.. The DDA, on the other hand was established in 1957 and controls the areas which were bought up and developed by it thereafter. However, some old colonies like Karol Bagh, Darya Ganj are also under the control of Old Scheme Branch of DDA.
• Upon the successful conversion of property from leasehold to Freehold, a conveyance deed would be issued to the owner. The conveyance deed mentions that the Vendee has now become the absolute owner of the said property and that he shall now be free to use it in any manner as he deems fit.

For the conversion of a leasehold property into a freehold property, Registration of Conveyance Deed is required. 

Important Points to note for the Registration of Conveyance Deed in Delhi are :

1. For conversion of lease hold property into free hold property, duty @ 6% in case of men and 4 % in case of women has to be paid through Collector of Stamps / SDM on the consideration amount mentioned in the Conveyance deed.

2. Official Conversion Charges are to be paid to the concerned authority such as Delhi Development Authority (DDA) or Land and Development Office (L&DO).

2. Registration fee is 1% of the total value of Conveyance Deed. In addition, Rs. 100/- as pasting charges have to be deposited at the time of registration through Bank Pay order.

            We handle the entire process of freehold conversion of DDA Flats and Group Housing Society Flats.

We will be providing the following services :-

1. Applying for Freehold Conversion
2. Drafting and preparation of all the above mentioned legal documents
3. Attestation of the Documents
4. Deposit of Freehold Conversion Fee with the DDA
5. Follow up and visiting DDA Office on your behalf
6. Paying/Depositing Stamp Duty for registration of Freehold Conveyance Deed
7. Getting the Conveyance Deed registered in the Sub Registrar Office
8. Providing you the delivery of Original Conveyance Deed after registration
9. You won’t need to visit the DDA office again and again to pursue your conversion case, as that part would be taken care
    of by us. You will have to visit the DDA office just once – at the time of Registration of Conveyance Deed.