Clarification on registering small plots and unapproved house sites

What this document is

The Inspector General of Registration, Registration Department, in Letter No. 52889 / C1 / 2019 dated 18.03.2020, sent field instructions to all Deputy Inspectors General of Registration, District Registrars and Sub Registrars. The letter forwards the Government clarification issued by the Commercial Taxes and Registration Department in Letter No. 359/J2/2020-1 dated 16.03.2020 and directs officers to implement it without causing inconvenience to the public.

What it governs

The clarification deals with registration of documents involving unapproved house site divisions and small extents of land, especially where officers had been refusing registration because of doubts.

It explains when a transaction will not be treated as a "layout" for this purpose, based on the definition cited from Government Order (Nilai) No. 78, Housing and Urban Development Department, dated 4.5.2017.

Key points that affect buyers and owners

• A single agricultural land parcel of 10 cents, or less, in a village area, if owned by one person and sold as a house site, need not be treated as a layout in the situation described. Registration of such a document is stated not to be contrary to Section 22A(2) of the Registration Act, 1908.
• The same clarification applies when that 10 cent agricultural land is split into two parts and registered.
• The same clarification also applies where a house has been built on agricultural land and the land is being registered along with the house as a house site.
• The same clarification applies to land within the Chennai Metropolitan Planning Area when it is divided into fewer than 8 house sites and is not a layout.
• The same clarification applies in village areas where a larger land parcel already abuts a road and is divided into plots without forming any new road or street.
• The same clarification applies where only one part of a larger agricultural land, for example a 5 cent individual house site, is settled or sold without converting the whole land into a layout.

Cases needing closer scrutiny

Registration officers are told to examine whether division of larger village natham land into plots falls within the definition of layout.

• In areas within the Chennai Metropolitan Planning Area, registration may be done if the division does not exceed 8 plots.
• In other areas, registration may be done if no new road or street is formed.

Previously registered house sites

The Government clarification says that if the same house site had already been registered earlier as a house site before 21.10.2016, then registering it again as a house site, including for transfer of rights, will not be contrary to Section 22A(2) of the Registration Act, 1908.

Administrative direction

The Inspector General of Registration, Registration Department, instructed that these directions must be followed in practice, and compliance must be checked during surprise inspections and monthly audits.