Haryana affordable housing draws: who gets priority, how you pay, what you lose if you surrender

Rules and rates as of 19 October 2026.

Haryana's Affordable Housing Policy, 2013 is why Gurugram and Faridabad have projects selling small flats at a fixed rate per square foot, allotted by a draw of lots rather than first come, first served. The scheme is attractive, but the rules on who gets priority, what you pay and when, and how much you lose if you back out are spread across a 2013 notification, later amendments and a string of regulator orders. This explainer puts them in one place.

What the policy is

The policy was notified by the Town and Country Planning Department as notification No. PF-27/48921 dated 19 August 2013. It lets licensed developers ("colonisers") build group housing in which flats have a carpet area of 28 to 60 square metres (clause 4(ii)(b)) and are sold at a rate the government fixes, charged on carpet area.

The 2013 notification capped the rate at ₹4,000 a sq ft for Gurgaon, Faridabad, Panchkula and Pinjore-Kalka, ₹3,600 in other high and medium potential towns and ₹3,000 in low potential towns, with balconies charged at ₹500 a sq ft for up to 100 sq ft (clause 5(i)). These rates have since been raised. News reports from July 2023 say the state cabinet raised the Gurugram-zone rate to ₹5,000 a sq ft and the balcony rate to ₹1,200, for projects yet to make allotments. We could not open the amending notification, so take the current rate from your project's advertisement and the Town and Country Planning Department, not from this article.

Developers must also finish within four years of building plan approval or environmental clearance, whichever is later (clause 1(iv)), and maintain the colony free for five years from the occupation certificate before handing it to the owners' association (clause 4(v)).

Who can apply, and who gets priority

Under clause 5(ii), anyone can apply, but the draw gives "first preference" to applicants who, with their spouse and dependent children, own no flat or plot in a HUDA sector or licensed colony in Haryana's urban areas, Chandigarh or the NCT of Delhi. Other points from the same clause:

• One application per colony. You file an affidavit with it.
• A successful applicant cannot get a second flat under the policy. If you win in two colonies, you keep only one.
• The developer may allot up to 5% of flats to its own employees, associates or relatives, with their details disclosed to the allotment committee. Unused flats go back to the general pool.

How the draw works

The developer must advertise twice, a week apart, in one leading English national daily and two Hindi papers. You apply with 5% of the flat's total cost (clause 5(iii)(b)). Applications are scrutinised jointly by the developer and the District Town Planner within three months of the closing date. Ineligible applicants get their 5% back, without interest, within a month of scrutiny.

The draw itself is held before a committee that includes the Deputy Commissioner or a Haryana Civil Services representative, the Senior Town Planner, the District Town Planner and the developer's representative (clause 5(iii)(f)). The date, time and venue must be advertised, and the list of successful applicants published in the newspaper and on the department's website.

After the draw:

• Unsuccessful applicants get the booking amount back within 15 days of the draw.
• Waiting list: up to 25% of the flats on offer, kept for two years, after which booking amounts are refunded without interest. You can leave the waiting list earlier and get a refund within 30 days without penalty (clause 5(iii)(h)).
• Delay interest: if allotment or refund takes more than 90 days from the close of booking, applicants get 10% a year on the booking money.

Paying for the flat

A successful applicant pays another 20% at allotment. The remaining 75% is collected "in six equated six monthly instalments" (clause 5(iii)(b)), so roughly three years from allotment. Late payment attracts 15% a year interest. Resale is barred until one year after possession, on pain of a penalty of 200% of the flat's price, and a sale through an irrevocable power of attorney counts as a sale (clause 7(iii) and (iv)).

Surrender versus cancellation

There are two different ways to lose an allotment, and they are treated differently.

Surrender is when you give the flat back. The 2013 text let the developer deduct ₹25,000. An amendment dated 5 July 2019, as quoted by the Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (HRERA) Gurugram in Complaint No. 1171 of 2022 (order of 25 August 2023), caps what can be forfeited "in addition to Rs. 25,000" at 1% of the flat's cost up to one year from commencement of the project, 3% up to two years and 5% after that. "Commencement" is the later of building plan approval and environmental clearance.

Cancellation for non-payment follows clause 5(iii)(i): a reminder giving 15 days to pay, then a defaulters' list in a regional Hindi newspaper giving 15 more days, and only then cancellation, with ₹25,000 deducted and the rest refunded. In Complaint No. 916 of 2023 (order of 14 May 2024), HRERA Gurugram upheld a cancellation where that procedure was followed, but held that the developer could keep only ₹25,000, not the ₹1,41,150 it had forfeited, and ordered interest on the balance from the cancellation date.

The appellate tribunal has backed this line. In Appeal No. 159 of 2023 (28 January 2025) it refused deductions beyond 5% plus ₹25,000 on a surrender, including amounts labelled GST and interest. In Appeal No. 755 of 2022 (3 April 2025), the developer's counsel agreed to refund the entire amount after a cancellation, and the tribunal ordered it within 90 days.

Worked example: a ₹30 lakh flat

Take an illustrative flat with a total cost of ₹30,00,000. Your project's actual cost depends on its carpet area and the current rate.

• Booking (5%) = ₹30,00,000 × 0.05 = ₹1,50,000.
• At allotment (20%) = ₹30,00,000 × 0.20 = ₹6,00,000.
• Balance (75%) = ₹22,50,000, in six instalments of ₹22,50,000 ÷ 6 = ₹3,75,000.

Suppose you have paid the booking, allotment and two instalments: ₹1,50,000 + ₹6,00,000 + 2 × ₹3,75,000 = ₹15,00,000. Forfeiture on surrender = ₹25,000 + (rate × ₹30,00,000).

How the allotment ends	Maximum forfeiture	Refund of ₹15,00,000 paid
Surrender within 1 year of commencement (1%)	₹55,000	₹14,45,000
Surrender within 2 years (3%)	₹1,15,000	₹13,85,000
Surrender after 2 years (5%)	₹1,75,000	₹13,25,000
Cancellation for non-payment, after due notice	₹25,000	₹14,75,000

The forfeiture is worked on the flat's full cost, not on what you have paid, so it bites harder the earlier you are in the payment schedule. Where a developer keeps more than these amounts, HRERA has ordered the excess refunded with interest under rule 15 of the Haryana RERA rules; the orders we read applied rates between 10.35% and 10.85% a year, which change over time.

Where to go

For a project in Gurugram, complaints about refunds, deductions or delays go to HRERA Gurugram. Keep the draw result, allotment letter, every demand notice and payment receipt, and any surrender email: in the orders above, dates of surrender, commencement and notices decided the outcome. A lawyer who practises before HRERA can advise on your facts.