State cracks down on illegal housing layouts

In a sweeping move to curb illegal and unplanned land development, the state government has unveiled a new policy aimed at clamping down on unauthorised residential layouts that have long plagued urban and rural growth.

The new rules mandate prior approvals from competent planning authorities before any residential layout can be approved, and impose strict accountability on officials who fail to enforce the law. Deputy commissioners across all districts have been instructed to seize properties developed in violation of planning norms, marking one of the most aggressive actions taken to date on this issue.

Too many developers have preyed on the hopes of poor and middle-class families, said Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, highlighting how thousands have unknowingly bought land in unapproved layouts—leaving them without legal building plans, access to loans, or even basic amenities like roads and drainage.

The government has issued clear directives to gram panchayats, urban local bodies, and revenue officials to block such illegal layouts at the very beginning. Officials who ignore violations or fail to act in time will now face disciplinary action. The issue has been a festering problem in Karnataka’s real estate landscape, with families often stuck in legal limbo, unable to construct homes or access infrastructure, despite having invested their life savings.

This is not just a land issue. It’s a human issue, Gowda stated. When families are forced into settlements with no hope of regularisation, the entire system breaks down. Going forward, no exceptions will be allowed, and all new layouts will require express sanction from designated planning bodies; a move designed to bring transparency and order to a sector long marred by ambiguity and exploitation.