Valuing leasehold property: Noida, Navi Mumbai, Salt Lake

By Parish Rao · 9 October 2026 · 8 minute read

A lot of Indian property that people think they own outright is actually leasehold: Noida flats, Navi Mumbai societies, Chandigarh sector houses, Salt Lake plots. The lease does not make the property worth little, but its terms do move the price, sometimes by more than the owner expects.

Leasehold, in one paragraph

With freehold, you own the land outright. With leasehold, a government authority owns the land and has given you the right to use it for a long period, often 60, 90, 99 or even 999 years, on its terms. You own the building and the right to occupy. Those terms decide how easily you can sell, mortgage or rebuild.

Where it is common

• Noida and Greater Noida. The development authorities lease the land. Flats are held on a sub lease signed by the authority, the builder and the buyer, and resales pay the authority a transfer charge.
• Navi Mumbai. CIDCO leased most of the land. Since July 2025, CIDCO residential plots can be converted to freehold, at the owner's option, for a charge based on the ready reckoner.
• Chandigarh. Much sector property is leasehold from the administration. A sale needs Estate Office permission and a payment on the increase in value since allotment.
• Salt Lake, Kolkata. Plots are on 999 year leases from the state. Depending on the lease deed, a transfer outside the family can carry a fee.
• New Town, Kolkata. Plots on 99 year leases from the state's housing corporation, with an option to convert to freehold.
• Pimpri Chinchwad. Homes built on land leased by a former development authority between 1980 and 2010, now approved for conversion to freehold.
• Delhi. Many DDA properties began as leasehold, and the DDA has long run a scheme to convert them to freehold.

What actually moves the value

The remaining term. A 99 year lease with 85 years left is barely different from freehold to most buyers. One with 30 years left is a different asset, and banks lend less against it.

The cost of a transfer. Transfer charges, permission fees and payments on unearned increase come out of what a buyer will pay. A valuation of a leasehold property should state them.

Restrictions on use. Some leases limit what a property can be used for, or forbid subletting or splitting. A shop allotted for one trade may be worth less if it cannot lawfully change use.

Unpaid dues. Lease rent, additional compensation demanded by the authority, or a builder's unpaid dues to the authority can block a registry. A flat that cannot be registered is worth less than one that can.

The freehold option. Where conversion is available, a buyer will usually price the conversion cost in. A property already converted is worth more by roughly that amount.

Should you convert to freehold?

Often it helps. Freehold sells more easily, mortgages more easily, and avoids future transfer charges. Whether it pays depends on the conversion cost against the value it adds. A valuation of the property as leasehold and as freehold shows the difference, which is the number you need to decide.

Leasehold and capital gains

Premiums paid to the authority, lease rent paid in advance, additional compensation demanded later, and conversion fees can all form part of the cost of a leasehold property. Transfer charges paid on a sale are expenses of the sale. Each reduces the taxable gain, so keep every receipt.

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