Planning to buy a house? Be prepared to shell out more. It’s very likely that your budget will go awry with the Land Acquisition Bill being passed by the Lok Sabha.

The bill, which aims to protect the interests of farmers, will jack up property prices considerably, say realtors.

As per the bill, promoters and developers will have to pay four times the current government prices to acquire land.

And this cost, will eventually be passed on to the buyer. Once implemented, this Bill will make property prices skyrocket, said Lalit Kumar Jain, president of Credai, an apex body of developers.

“Besides high compensation to the farmer or landowner, the provisions of the Bill call for consent of 80% of people to acquire land for development. With this, political and land mafia will intervene. Developers will have to pay these elements,” said Jain, adding that this has been witnessed in the case of Mumbai’s slum rehabilitation scheme, which calls for consent of at least 70% tenants.

According to Pankaj Kapoor, managing director of real estate research firm, Liases Foras, the ‘insane’ Bill will fuel rise in property rates.

“Already, property market are in deep trouble. Land, a major determinant of apartment prices, will now escalate prices,” said Kapoor, expressing discontent with the government’s move. “Besides, the process of acquiring land will delay projects and this too will push up prices.”

Land acquisition becomes even more difficult now, said Mayank Saksena, managing director of Land Services, Jones Lang LaSalle India, adding that land acquisition prices will be four times the government rates in rural areas.

Anshuman Magazine, chairman & managing director of CBRE, South Asia Pvt Ltd, said the already-difficult process of acquiring land in India will become tougher still with the Bill.