G.O.(Ms).No.260, Duration of Planning Permission Extended by 2 Years, 2022

What the order does

Government Order G.O.(Ms).No.260, issued by the Housing and Urban Development [UD4(1)] Department on 16 December 2022, gives an additional two years to specified building planning permissions.

Key provisions are:

• The extension applies to planning permission for buildings.
• The planning permission must have been accorded from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2022.
• The duration of qualifying planning permission is extended for a further period of two years.
• The reason recorded for the extension is the loss of two years of construction time due to COVID.

The text does not provide a separate application procedure, fee or additional eligibility condition.

Who is affected

The two year extension under Government Order G.O.(Ms).No.260 is relevant to owners and others dealing with buildings whose planning permission was granted within the stated period.

A property buyer, owner or professional can check:

• whether the property has a building planning permission;
• the date on which that permission was accorded; and
• whether that date falls from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2022.

The notification does not extend permissions that fall outside the stated date range. It also does not describe any other category of approval.

Legal basis and publication

The notification appended to Government Order G.O.(Ms).No.260 states that the Governor of Tamil Nadu exercised powers under sub-section (1) of section 122, read with section 113 of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971 (Tamil Nadu Act 35 of 1972), to relax the provision of section 50.

The Housing and Urban Development [UD4(1)] Department directed that the notification be published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, Extraordinary, dated 16 December 2022.

Practical point for property checks

The benefit under Government Order G.O.(Ms).No.260 depends on when planning permission was accorded, not merely on the date of construction or purchase. A person reviewing a property can compare the approval date shown in the planning permission with the qualifying period and account for the further two year extension stated in the notification.