CMDA or DTCP approved? How to check a Chennai plot or flat's planning approval before you pay

Rules and rates as of 22 October 2026.

In and around Chennai, a plot or a flat is sold with one of two badges: "CMDA approved" or "DTCP approved". The badge tells you which planning body is supposed to have cleared the land or the building. It does not prove that the clearance exists, or that it covers the plot or flat in front of you. This explainer sets out who approves what, what Tamil Nadu law says happens to an unapproved house site, and how to check an approval yourself.

It is about planning approval only. Checking the seller's title (encumbrance certificate, patta, chain of deeds) is a separate job, covered in our guide to resale title checks in Chennai.

CMDA or DTCP: it depends on where the land is

Both bodies work under the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971. Section 47 bars any use or development of land that is not in conformity with the development plan. Section 49 requires anyone other than a government or local authority to apply in writing to the appropriate planning authority for permission.

• Inside the Chennai Metropolitan Area: CMDA. The Act sets up a metropolitan development authority for the Chennai area under section 9-A. CMDA's website describes the area as covering Chennai district and parts of Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Ranipet districts, with 1,225 villages added in October 2022.
• Everywhere else in Tamil Nadu: DTCP. The Directorate of Town and Country Planning says on its website that its jurisdiction is the whole State except the CMDA area.

The Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019 (TNCDBR), notified by G.O. Ms. No. 18, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, dated 4 February 2019, apply in both areas. Rule 5(1) makes the competent authority in the Chennai Metropolitan Area "the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority or a Local Authority" to which CMDA has delegated powers. Rule 5(2) makes it, elsewhere, the planning authority to which the Director of Town and Country Planning has delegated powers.

So "approved" can mean approved by CMDA, by DTCP, or by a local body under delegation. What matters is that the approval came from the body with jurisdiction over that survey number.

Layout or sub-division?

The 2019 rules draw a line that sellers often blur. Under the definitions in rule 2, a layout divides land into more than eight plots with new roads, while a sub-division creates eight plots or fewer. Both need approval.

A layout approval is more than a stamp. A CMDA layout approval we read (letter dated 17 March 2021, for 49 plots near Poonamallee) shows what to look for. It names the survey numbers, shows each plot number and size, and marks roads "gifted to the local body". It also reserves 1% of the area for public purpose under rule 47(8) and records the registered gift deed for the roads. It also says the approval is "valid subject to obtaining sanction from the local body concerned". In other words, the CMDA letter is not the last step.

What happens to an unapproved house site

Tamil Nadu has amended the Registration Act, 1908 for the State. Section 22-A(2), as substituted by the Registration (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2008 (Tamil Nadu Act 2 of 2009), tells the registering officer to refuse to register a transfer of "lands converted as house sites without the permission for development of such land from planning authority concerned". A proviso allows registration if the same house site was registered as a house site before.

The Madras High Court has applied this provision repeatedly. In Vasanthakumar v. The Sub Registrar, Kariapatti (W.P.(MD) No. 20716 of 2025, 31 July 2025), the court reviewed earlier orders. It recorded the view that an unapproved plot "shall not be registered", and that the section applies when agricultural land is sold as a house site without permission. In that case, though, it held the section did not bar a sale of agricultural land as agricultural land.

One conflict to note. The PRS-hosted text says section 22-A was substituted by the 2009 Act. A Division Bench in S. Prabhu Shankar v. The Sub Registrar (W.A. No. 3470 of 2024, 1 October 2026) describes it as inserted in 2012 and in effect from 2016. The commencement date matters for older deeds; a lawyer should confirm it.

The 2017 regularisation scheme, in rupees

For plots already sold in unapproved layouts, the State notified the Tamil Nadu Regularisation of Unapproved Plots and Layouts Rules, 2017 (G.O.(Ms) No. 78, Housing and Urban Development Department, 4 May 2017). They covered plots and layouts with a registered sale deed on or before 20 October 2016, with applications to be made online within six months. Rule 15(b) says that where regularisation is not ordered, the plot cannot be registered.

The charges were set per square metre of plot area. Here is what they work out to for a 2,400 sq ft plot. The plot size is illustrative.

Formula: total = plot area (sq m) × (regularisation charge + development charge) + ₹500 scrutiny fee. Plot area: 2,400 sq ft × 0.0929 = 222.97 sq m.

Area	Regularisation charge	Development charge	Total with scrutiny fee
Corporation (rules 9 and 10: ₹100 + ₹600 per sq m)	₹22,297	₹1,33,782	₹1,56,579
Village panchayat (₹30 + ₹100 per sq m)	₹6,689	₹22,297	₹29,486
Corporation at the Form I worksheet rates (₹110 + ₹700 per sq m)	₹24,527	₹1,56,079	₹1,81,106

Workings for the first row: 222.97 × ₹100 = ₹22,297; 222.97 × ₹600 = ₹1,33,782; add ₹500 to get ₹1,56,579. The third row is there because the rules' own self-assessment form uses higher rates than rules 9 and 10, and the text does not say which governs. An open space charge, based on 10% of the layout area at guideline value, could come on top for a layout.

The point for a buyer today is not the exact figure. A plot that went through regularisation should have an order to show for it. A plot that did not, in a layout that was never approved, may not be registrable at all.

Flats: the same question, asked of the building

For a flat, the approval to check is the planning permission for the building, from CMDA or the local body inside the metropolitan area, or under DTCP's delegation outside it. Ask the builder or seller for the planning permission letter and approved plan. Check that the number of floors and flats on the plan matches what was built. Ask for the completion certificate too.

For a new project, also check the Tamil Nadu RERA registration. Under section 3 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, a promoter cannot advertise or sell plots or flats in a planning area before registering, unless the project is small enough to be exempt.

How to check an approval yourself

1. Get the approval number and date in writing. For a CMDA layout, the number takes the form "PPD/L.O. No." followed by a serial and year.
2. Look it up. CMDA has published year-wise tables of layout approvals showing the approval number, applicant, survey numbers, village, local body, date and extent. Match all of them to your seller's documents.
3. Check your plot on the plan. The plot number and size on the approved plan should match the sale deed.
4. Check the local body sanction and gift deed. Ask for the local body's release and the registered gift deed for roads and public purpose land.
5. For DTCP areas, ask the local planning office or DTCP to confirm the approval. We could not find a public list on DTCP's website.

Then hand the file to a property advocate for an opinion, and ask your lender in writing whether it will finance a plot or flat with those approvals.