Affluent Buyers Ready to Pay Premium Even For Litigation Properties

For instance, Rajan Bharti, Vice-Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, bid 156 crore for a disputed property located in Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone in Delhi. This property was under litigation from the year 1980. Recently, Sajjan Jindal purchased a sea-facing three-storey bungalow on Mumbai’s Nepean Sea Road for whopping 500 crore from Maheshwari house from four family members as the property was under litigation.

"But, in a few cases, we do see issues between the owners also resulting in the property being sold as a solution. This is more often the case in ancestral properties," said Abhishek Khare, partner at Khare Legal Chambers in Mumbai.

"Most transactions in this segment are driven by the monetary value that owners see in these deals as there's very little supply of such properties," according to Om Ahuja, chief executive officer, Jones Lang LaSalle India. He further added that "Disputes among family members can be about something else as well, but these issues sometimes result in the property being sold altogether."

Apart from getting posh address, there is another reason for potential buyers to buy litigation properties. "The title gets stronger if a property has gone through litigation and has been settled by the courts. This is a positive for a buyer as he gets a cleaner title," said Mudassir Zaidi, regional director at property advisory firm Knight Frank.