Examining Maintenance Charges in Residential Townships..!
by Mr. Rohan Sharma, JLL India
Large townships, in most cases integrated townships, are
self-contained developments which are centred on residential projects with the
associated physical, trunk infrastructure & social infrastructure
comprising of recreational greens, schools, neighbourhood shopping, medical
facilities and security services provided by private companies & the local
police.
Multiple projects..!
Large township projects have multiple residential
projects under development (viz. high-rise apartments, low-rise independent
floors & villas) which could be spread across the entire township in the
form of independent, separate projects.
In other words, a large township is primarily a
conurbation of multiple projects in a self-sustained, independent city-like
environment with linkages to the municipal city.
Individual residential projects within a township are
akin to standalone residential developments in terms of approvals required and
upon completion, their maintenance and security solutions.
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Rohan Sharma, JLL India |
However, in the case of a township, the developer is in
charge of the overall maintenance and security of the common areas of his
township until the entire township project has been successfully delivered to
all homeowners. Further, till the final occupation certificate for the entire
township is received, the maintenance of the township facilities is the
responsibility of the developer.
Resident Welfare Association..
In case of individual projects within the township the
developer may, upon completion of such a project and receipt of its occupation
certificate, hand over the maintenance to the Resident Welfare Association
(RWA) of that particular project.
He still remains responsible for the common area
maintenance of the overall township. In such development models, homeowners
usually pay maintenance for the common area maintenance within their project,
and also a proportionate share towards the township maintenance.
Maintenance costs
As a result, they end up paying slightly more than they
would have in the case of a standalone residential development. However, such
additional pay-out is justified by the amenities being created for the entire
township.
The maintenance costs in most residential projects are in
the range of Rs. 2 to 4 per square feet. per month.
An additional charge towards the main township
maintenance % security adds another 30% to 50% over and above the maintenance
charges for individual projects.
Upon completion of the entire township and receipt of the
occupation certificate for the whole development, the developer may offer to
undertake the maintenance common services for the whole township himself, or /
alternatively allow the creation of a township federation (which comprises of
heads of the individual projects’ RWAs) to take over the township maintenance.
The services covered under the township include
maintenance of common areas like roads, common facilities’ buildings, common
security, street lights, garbage and sewage disposal services, costs of
consumables, employees’ costs, spares, equipment, building insurance and a
general sinking fund corpus.
All projects, though with individual RWAs, utilise the
township services and common facilities such as roads and streetlights; hence,
they cannot consider themselves isolated islands.
Payment of maintenance charges to the township federation
or developer is a mandatory provision which is enforced through separate
maintenance contracts pertaining to payments towards such services. Individual
residential projects cannot opt to be out of a township federation if they are
part of a township development.
Corpus funds
Owing to the inherent complexities to such an
arrangement, issues are sometimes raised with respect to homeowners having to
pay higher maintenance than they would incur in standalone projects, but the
additional services and facilities they enjoy justify the costs – which, in
overall terms, are not exceedingly high in any case.
In some cases, corpus funds of around Rs. 100 to Rs. 200
per square feet. may be collected from the homeowners for township maintenance.
About the author
Mr. Rohan Sharma is Associate Director (Research &
Real Estate Intelligence Service) at JLL India
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