Developers had met Sukhbir Badal and apprised him of the problem of housing societies in big cities, which had very little open area. Says property dealer Vishal Kumar "There are many aspects of the change which will be clarified only after the notification. One of the issues is that it is very difficult to find a 75-acre piece for a housing project most parts of the state. The coloniser is expected to pay Rs 35 lakh per acre as development charges to the government, which is very steep. This meant only big players could enter the market."

Developer Kuldip Singh agrees that the small developer operating on the regional level was being left out. "We small developers cannot muster even a fraction what the biggies could spare for housing projects. Local people are being edged out of the market," he says.

A senior official said that one of the dictating reasons for allowing only big companies to develop housing societies was to ensure state-of-the-art infrastructure before a colony was approved. "Instead of promoting big residential colonies, why doesn't the government lay stress on and ensure that all colonies - big and small -- provide basic infrastructure? A fitness certificate should be made compulsory and the order implemented strictly by giving more powers to enforcers," says Kuldeep Singh.

Retired government official Jeet Ram says buyers would benefit from the new decision. "Scores of small players had duped buyers into investing in their housing projects promising all modern facilities. Several constructed societies were even lacking in basic infrastructure like drains, roads and parking places," he says.

Builders had been exploiting buyers, chips in timber merchant Naval Kishore. "There were certain societies in which constructors had handed over possession of half-built houses. Imagine a person spending his entire life's earnings on the dream house and then being duped. After repeated appeals to constructors, these buyers are now probing the option of moving court."