Gurgaon's Real Estate Shift: S+4 Crackdown Leads to 50% Drop in Builder Plot Enquiries
A little over a month after the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed stilt-plus-four (S+4) constructions in Gurgaon’s residential areas, authorities have intensified their crackdown on building norm violations. On Monday, the HC was informed that around 2,000 notices have been issued in the city for illegally repurposed stilt areas, with 500 restoration orders passed against alleged violators.
The real estate market, meanwhile, has witnessed a shift in the nature of enquiries for such plots. Kulwant Nain, owner of Pinnacle Realtors, said enquiries for builder plots by developers have halved. “Enquiries from builders have dropped by 50%… bundled with a steep rise in circle rates, it has affected buyer sentiments. Older HSVP sectors (up to Sector 57) are still seeing interest in existing S+4 properties. But in newer sectors, S+3 is now being more favoured, which means the rates for individual floors will go up,” Nain explained.
Abhishek Bhardwaj, founder of Kalpvriksha Realty, said there has been a freeze on enquiries for S+4 across the city, and agreed with Nain’s point about an increase in S+3 prices. “At older HSVP sectors, where the issue is somewhat less acute, enquiries are still coming in; otherwise, there is a freeze in activity. Buyers are present, but limited inventory is making a difference. Enquiries for builder floors have declined, and in the current scenario, owners of S+4 plots with approved maps and floor area ratios are sitting on a goldmine.”
Bhawani Shankar Tripathi, a resident of Sector 23A (an open HSVP sector), said notices have not been issued in their area yet so far. Under existing building norms, stilt areas are mandated primarily for parking to alleviate street congestion. However, these spaces are frequently enclosed illegally by builders or property owners to create additional living or commercial quarters.
The High Court has been hearing petitions challenging the S+4 policy, which permitted the construction of a fourth floor on residential plots, raising the earlier cap of stilt plus three floors. During previous hearings, the Bench heavily criticised the state government, observing that it had apparently prioritised revenue generation over public safety. The court pointed out that the state bypassed the crucial step of conducting an “infrastructure capacity audit” before rolling out the policy, ignoring Gurgaon’s desperate shortage of infrastructural requirements, including adequate sanitation, sewerage, and waste disposal systems.
The Haryana government is now preparing to challenge the HC order. In the interim, an anti-encroachment and demolition drive by the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) across multiple sectors in Gurgaon has been put on hold. The HSVP had on April 24 announced a large-scale demolition drive scheduled from April 27 to July 1, targeting alleged encroachments in sectors 27, 43, 31, 32A, 24, 25A and 30.
