Perambur, Shastri Nagar Allottees Still Await Sale Deeds Decades After Housing Scheme

Residents in Chennai localities such as Perambur and Shastri Nagar continue to wait for legal sale deeds decades after being allotted plots and completing payments under the World Bank-funded Madras Urban Development Project (MUDP) and Tamil Nadu Urban Development Project (TNUDP).

Between 1977 and 1997, the state government implemented MUDP and TNUDP to grant freehold ownership to eligible families across 726 settlements for 1.37 lakh families statewide. However, land alienation remains pending in 143 settlements across Tamil Nadu, including 77 of 399 settlements in Chennai across MUDP I and II and TNUDP I and II.

On Kandapillai Street in Perambur, 49 families who were allotted plots under MUDP in 1982 have not received sale deeds because the land formally belongs to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department. While the then Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board—now the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB)—obtained permission to enter the land, it did not pay the amount needed to alienate the plots. Residents report that the HR&CE department has now begun demanding temple land rent and arrears running into lakhs of rupees, despite residents having completed their hire-purchase instalments to the housing board.

Delays persist even in areas where land alienation has concluded. In Shastri Nagar, where plots were developed under MUDP in 1988 and alienation was completed in 2018, a study by NGO Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC) revealed that multiple families still lack ownership documents. Several original allottees have died while waiting, leaving legal heirs to navigate complex succession claims and shifting board payment demands.

In June 2024, the state established a high-level committee chaired by then deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin to expedite the distribution of sale deeds in Chennai and adjacent areas. While some deeds were issued, IRCDUC founder Vanessa Peter called for a dedicated sale deed and land title cell within TNUHDB to resolve pending cases and review progress settlement by settlement.

A senior TNUHDB official stated that an action plan is being drafted and a fresh survey is required to assess the backlog, noting that available records date back to 1996. Another official claimed that roughly 60 percent of beneficiaries statewide have received deeds and that remaining delays for fully paid allottees will be addressed.