It was a quiet Saturday morning on June 20th. Sanghamitra Pati was at her home in Bhubaneswar when her phone rang.
“do it in hours room vacatebuilding seal is happening (Vacate the room in two hours. The building is being sealed),” the caretaker of her rented accommodation in Gurugram’s DLF Phase 3 told her. A few minutes later, his landlord repeated the message.
The 26-year-old marketing manager initially dismissed it as a joke. He called back to check. The answer was the same. The officials were going to seal the building in S Block. He had two hours to vacate his one-bedroom apartment.
Hundreds of kilometers away, with the flat keys in her bag, there was nothing she could do. He called a friend in Gurugram and asked him to break into the apartment and save whatever he could. It was the beginning of a feud that, in the weeks that followed, turned upside down the lives of hundreds of tenants caught in Gurugram’s crackdown on unauthorized paying guest (PG) accommodations and illegally converted rental units.
“I have completely boycotted all DLF stages,” says the husband, after moving into a 1BHK in a group housing society near Golf Course Extension Road.
“This new place is not a builder floor,” she says, referring to a multi-storey residential building built by a private developer, with each floor sold separately. “I also asked colleagues in real estate to help me find something with the necessary approvals – something that would be less likely to be targeted for sealing or demolition.” The lesson, she says, came the hard way.
High Court ordered campaign
The sealing drive in DLF City Phases 1 to 5 stems from a long-running legal dispute over alleged building byelaw violations, unauthorized construction and commercial use of residential properties, especially Economically Weaker Section (EWS) plots. The case arose out of petitions filed in 2021 by the DLF City Residents Welfare Association and other local groups seeking implementation of the planning norms.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on February 13, 2025, directed the District Town Planner (Enforcement), Gurugram, to take action against violations in residential colonies. However, the Supreme Court stayed the order on 4 April that year. The case came back to the High Court on November 26 and it restrained the DTP (enforcement) from taking action. On May 29 this year, the court limited the protection to only those who had filed civil miscellaneous applications, allowing enforcement action against other properties to proceed.
Over 5,000 properties are facing action over zoning violations, including illegal operation of PG residences, commercial use of residential plots and encroachment on “right of way” – land reserved for public movement and infrastructure. But for hundreds of working professionals like Pati, it means sudden displacement, financial stress and the fear that the home could be taken away at any time.
A 25-year-old woman from Kolkata, speaking on condition of anonymity, says that on June 18, the sealing drive in S Block of DLF Phase 3 came without any warning, leaving her only 10 minutes to react. She was at work when a neighbor called.
The damage became apparent later. After the building was sealed, half of their belongings remained locked inside. A week later, when the tenants contacted the office of the district town planner, they were given two hours to retrieve what was left.
“By then everything was ruined,” says the woman. She spent the next two weeks in a hotel before finding a new 1BHK in the first week of July.
“Since the drive, demand for 1BHKs and 1RKs has soared. Rents have skyrocketed. It’s not just me – hundreds of professionals and families have been displaced. Options are limited as a lot of buildings have already been sealed, and more are on the radar,” she says.
Ultimately, Pati considers herself “lucky” to be single. Others in his building were not so lucky.
“Families with children and elderly parents were running around. A friend of mine, who was staying in another PG accommodation, had gone to the office. When he came back at night, the building was sealed. All his belongings – documents, furniture, groceries and clothes – were inside. Imagine coming back home to find nothing. Left on the road,” she says.
He alleges that what angered him most was the lack of prior information. Calls to his landlord for the return of the security deposit have since gone unanswered.
Tenants were kept in the dark
For tenants, the biggest disappointment isn’t just being displaced; The question is whose fault it is.
“I had a valid rent agreement. I paid everything on time – ₹30,000 per month for a luxury 1BHK. This was no shady PG. It was a proper residential apartment. It seemed completely legal. So, how would I know? If it was illegal, how was the rent agreement executed? How did the police verification happen?” says displaced tenant Sunaina. “But now my question is: How do I know that the next place is also not on the list (of illegal buildings)? Who do I ask to make sure it doesn’t happen again?”
Amit Pahwa, a German language expert with a private company, claims that owners of many PG residences were already aware of the sealing drive but did not inform their tenants. Pahwa, who lives with his wife and daughter, says uncertainty remains despite the owner of his rented 1BHK in a 54-unit building in DLF Phase 3 getting a stay on the sealing drive.
The action has already prompted some tenants to move out. Navam, a 24-year-old software engineer from Punjab, vacated his PG accommodation and shifted to a rented room in a house owned by an elderly couple. He says, “I have rented a room in a two-storey house. This is not a PG. I hope I won’t face any problems here.”
A landlord in the area, who requested anonymity, admits that the owners had prior knowledge. “We did not inform tenants because we did not expect such a large-scale action, targeting more than 5,000 properties.”
He claims that his building had all the necessary permissions, but the shops and gym running on the stilt floor meant for parking violated the bylaws of the building.
gross violation
The extent of unauthorized construction and commercial activity in DLF Phase 3, exposed during an enforcement drive by the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), was a shock to many residents.
The largest among the sealed properties, the 1,000-square-yard PG facility created by merging two plots had 128 rooms across four floors. Officials said this was a major violation, as a gym was being operated from the basement and there was a kitchen and a restaurant on the stilt floor, both of which are prohibited under building bye-laws.
The drive revealed a pattern across the region: sealed properties not only had tenants living in them, but full-fledged commercial establishments were also operating. An official says the sealed rooms include a 48-room PG facility, an unauthorized beauty parlor operating from the basement and a 25-room PG accommodation on the upper floor of the same building.
One of the sealed buildings had a basement, a stilt floor and four upper floors with a total of 26 rooms. Here too the basement was being used as a gym, while there was a salon and office on the stilt floor. Repeated calls and messages to DLF corporate communications head Divya Puri remained unanswered.
PG business is growing rapidly
Gurugram’s PG and co-living market is growing rapidly, owing to the steady influx of young professionals from across the country looking for jobs in the growing office corridor along Cyber City, Golf Course Road, Udyog Vihar and Sohna Road. As per conservative estimates, PG residences in DLF Phase 3, having 20 to 100 rooms, have monthly rental income ranging from ₹10 lakh to ₹30 lakh.
For many people, the priority is straightforward: a fully furnished space close to work, without the need to buy furniture or commit to a long lease. That demand has made PGs and co-living spaces one of the most lucrative rental businesses in the city.
However, the market is far from homogenous. This varies greatly according to location and budget. DLF Phase 3 and 4 are one of the most sought after localities. Within walking distance of Cyber City, they attract professionals willing to pay a premium for private rooms and branded co-living spaces. A few kilometers away, Sectors 15, 39, and 46 have emerged as hubs of affordable and mid-range housing. Due to its proximity to Medanta Hospital, IFFCO Chowk Metro Station and major corporate offices along MG Road, these areas are home to many shared residences popular among early career professionals and students. Paying guest accommodation in Sectors 15 and 46 usually costs between ₹4,500 and ₹15,000 per month depending on the facilities offered.
Farther south, Golf Course Extension Road and Sohna Road have emerged as new frontiers for organized co-living. Owners are developing premium properties with amenities like gyms, lounges and concierge services targeting senior executives and expatriates moving to new corporate campuses. Monthly rent in these areas generally ranges from ₹7,000 to ₹30,000 depending on location and amenities.
What started as informal PG accommodation run by individual landlords has gradually evolved into an organised, service-oriented accommodation sector. EWS plots of DLF Phase 3 are at the heart of rental income business in Gurugram. Advocate RP Yadav, who runs PG accommodation in U Block on Road No. 11, explains the economics. “A 60 square yard EWS plot here costs around ₹2.5 crore to ₹3 crore,” he says. “Add an additional ₹1 crore for construction. After an investment of around ₹4 crore, the monthly income is around ₹1 lakh to ₹1.5 lakh.”
According to Yadav, although building construction rules require 25% of the plot to be left open, “the entire plot gets covered after the completion certificate”. “The architect also helps in this,” he adds.
He says while the old policy allows one stilt floor and four upper floors, many buildings have been constructed with five floors. A typical 60-square-yard PG facility has two rooms on each floor, with a total of eight to 10 rooms. Monthly rent ranges from ₹6,000 for an unfurnished room to ₹15,000 for a fully furnished room equipped with air conditioning, a television, an en-suite bathroom and a kitchenette.
Yadav estimates that there are over 1,000 EWS plots in DLF Phase 3 and about half of them are being used as PG accommodation, especially in S, U and V blocks.
policy paralysis
District Town Planner (Enforcement) Amit Madholia says that most of the PGs in the residential colonies of the city are running in violation of the housing policy norms. Under the policy relating to setting up guest or boarding houses in residential areas, a building cannot be divided into separate 1RK or 1BHK units for rent. Rooms can only be rented for stays of less than a month. The policy limits the total land area allowed for guest houses within any residential sector or colony in Gurugram to 1.25 acres.
Haryana’s affordable rental housing policy, notified in 2021, seeks to provide short-term (minimum one month) and long-term (up to 99 years) rental housing for industrial workers, migrants and corporate employees. However, it has seen limited participation among private developers due to undivided ownership provisions, limited rents, and high land and construction costs. Under this policy, all housing units can only be rented out and not sold, keeping the ownership of the project undivided. The minimum project area is 0.5 acres while the maximum is 4 acres.
“As both the policies failed to meet the growing demand for 1BHK and 1RK rental units, property owners took advantage of the gap. Allegedly, with the active connivance of some DTCP officials and architects, residential buildings were illegally converted into PG accommodation in clear violation of building bye-laws. Driven by the profits, many operators also opened gyms, salons and restaurants on stilt floors, while enforcement agencies Looked the other way,” says a retired DTCP officer.
The retired official says land in areas around major office centers is already fully utilized, so formulating a policy that addresses the demand for rental housing while curbing commercial activity in residential areas is no longer possible.
ashok.kumar@thehindu.co.in
(Edited by Rohit Panikar)
