Ranchi/Jamshedpur, Aug. 1: Bad news if you are dreaming of your own acres, a cosy flat or smart office space in the capital, the steel city and elsewhere.

Buying plots, commercial buildings and finished flats in urban and rural areas of Ranchi will be a costly affair from tomorrow with the district administration deciding to increase land rates (per decimal cost of land in a particular area) by a taxing 20 to 40 per cent.

Following a directive from the state registration department, majority of districts notified new rates today. Deputy secretary, registration department, D.K. Toppo told The Telegraph that the revision of land rates had witnessed a northward trend in both urban and rural areas. “As per norms, valuation of land in urban areas is revised every year while in rural areas, the same is done every two years,” he added.

In the capital, property, including land and flats, will be dearer in areas like Lalpur, Kantatoli Chowk, Hindpiri, Upper Bazar and Albert Ekka Chowk among other places.

At Albert Ekka Chowk, Upper Bazar and Daily Market area, land rates will range between Rs 3.34 lakh and Rs 5.07 lakh per decimal depending upon the approach road of the concerned property while it will be Rs 3.69 lakh per decimal in Lalpur Chowk, Kantatoli Chowk and Church Road area.

Rate of per square feet of flats and commercial spaces will also increase marginally in the capital. Notably, official land prices in most parts of the state will go up from August 2. The registration fee of land/flats is 5 per cent of the total value of the property.

With effect from today, the East Singhbhum district administration has also jacked up land rates in upmarket and semi-posh neighbourhoods by 20-40 per cent.

Till July 31, a commercial complex in Bistupur, Circuit House Area, Baradwari, Sakchi was available at Rs 2,850 per square feet. The same will now be available at Rs 4,500 per square feet.

East Singhbhum sub-registrar Ramakant Tiwary said: “There is acute shortage of land in the urban belt. Moreover, the price of building material such as cement, iron rods and bricks have gone up several times. So, the increase in land rates is both expected and justified.”

He said land in urban areas was mainly divided into two categories — those along main roads and others. The price of the former is understandably higher. Besides, price of per square feet under Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) is more than that under Mango Notified Area Committee (MNAC) or Jugsalai Municipality because JNAC offers better civic amenities.

The sub-registrar said the average of top five property dealings in the previous year (in this case 2009-10) is considered the base for fixing the revised rate of land. “In accordance with the new rate, commercial complexes in Bistupur, Sakchi, Circuit House Area, Contractors’ Area and Baradwari will go up by 40 per cent. Residential flats in Sonari, Kadma, Kashidih, Sitaramdera, Parsudih and Mango, on the other hand, will see a hike margin of at least 25 per cent,” he said.