Home ›› 01 Nov 2021 ›› News
The Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh has protested Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha’s initiative to restrict building-height in the name of controlling population density in the capital.
At a press conference held on Sunday in the capital, the platform of realtors also said that it might not only cause public suffering but also intensify the prevailing housing crisis in the capital.
Addressing the press conference REHAB president Alamgir Shamsul Alamin (Kajal) urged the government to cancel the decision which was proposed in the newly prepared Detailed Area Plan.
Instead of imposing such building-height restrictions, RAJUK could control the capital’s population by decentralising services for the development of other areas, especially urban areas, he suggested.
He said that before taking any mechanism to control population the RAJUK should find the causes of increasing population density.
He also found that a huge number of people migrated to the capital just for getting better education, health and livelihood although the city lacked inadequate public amenities. Vice-president (finance) Mohad Shohel Rana said, “There are many other ways to control the population in the capital, apart from building-height restriction.”
“Population density can be controlled by using other mechanisms too,” he added.
He also explained that many REHAB members have already signed contracts with the land owners in line with the previous development plan but those housing projects are now facing uncertainty after RAJUK’s policy shift in this regard.
“Flat ownership will be elusive for many as its price will be double. A flat of per square feet Tk 6,000 will reach 12,000 because of the reform plan,” noted Shohel Rana.
The press conference was also attended, among others, by REHAB first vice-president Kamal Mahmud, vice-president-2 Nazrul Islam (Dulal) and vice-president-3 Lion Sharif Ali Khan.
REHAB leaders said, “We are now getting floor area ratio 13,000 square feet under the existing building code but the proposed DAP and the RAJUK plans limit it to 9,000 which will harm our business.”
Not only the realtors but also the land owners and 269 types of linkage industries will also be largely affected if such a plan is implemented, they cautioned.
They also claimed that the country’s real estate sector contributes 15 per cent in GDP as more than 40 lakh people are directly involved with this sector.
