The Andhra Pradesh government will distribute house-site title deeds to 25,880 poor families in Visakhapatnam on September 19, giving them ownership rights over houses they have built on government land, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said. The regularisation covers nearly 400 acres across 11 mandals in the district.
Naidu said the initiative was part of the state government’s Housing for All policy, under which eligible poor families are provided free house sites. The policy provides three cents of land to eligible families in rural areas and two cents in urban areas. The government is also granting ownership rights to families living in houses constructed on different categories of government land.
“The government is also conferring ownership rights on families living in houses constructed on various government lands. Those who had been assigned government land for house construction for more than 10 years would also be given full rights,” Naidu said.
Revenue Minister Anagani Satya Prasad said beneficiaries were distributed across 11 mandals in Visakhapatnam district. The largest number is in Visakhapatnam Rural mandal, where 8,074 families are covered. Mulagada accounts for 4,213 beneficiaries, followed by Gajuwaka with 3,999, Gopalapatnam with 2,956, Pendurthi with 2,736, Pedagantyada with 1,694 and Maharanipet with 1,228.
The title rights will be issued under several government orders. A total of 22,326 families will be covered under GO-296, while 613 families come under GO-388, 156 under GO-84, 1,842 under GO-30 and 943 under GO-45. The different orders form the administrative basis for regularising house sites and structures built on government land.
The announcement addresses a tenure gap faced by families who have occupied or built on assigned government land but did not previously hold full ownership rights. For these households, title documentation can establish formal recognition of their homes and plots by the state. The government’s decision also places the Revenue Department at the centre of a wider housing regularisation process involving village settlements, urban land and long-standing residential occupation.
Satya Prasad said families living in village habitations would be allowed to register their houses and house sites. Regularisation is also being undertaken for houses constructed on excess Urban Land Ceiling lands, bringing another category of previously informal or restricted residential occupation into the process.
The minister said the regularisation drive would soon be extended to Vijayawada, where about 24,000 families are expected to benefit. Across Andhra Pradesh, rights have already been granted to 12,000 families under GO-30, while another 9,000 applications remain pending for disposal. The state has also regularised house sites for 5,000 families in the Mangalagiri Assembly constituency.
The Visakhapatnam distribution programme is scheduled for September 19. Further regularisation in Vijayawada and the disposal of pending applications are the next steps identified by the state government.
