Planning to buy property in Ayodhya in 2025? Here is your legal guide

Ayodhya happens to be one of the most talked about topics as the country celebrates the first anniversary of Pran Prathistha of the Ram Temple in the old city of Uttar Pradesh. After the Supreme Court paved the way for the construction of the temple in the city in 2019, Ayodhya has seen a major real estate boom, with investors and buyers both queuing up to claim a share in the highly lucrative property market. As the city geared up to build infrastructure fitting for a pilgrimage town of international repute (Ayodhya now has an operational international airport and two upgraded railway stations), investor interest here was doubly intensified.

Ayodhya and the ongoing property boom 

Mega hotel chains such as Marriott International and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and large developers like House of Abhinandan Lodha have already sensed the potential of the city and unveiled plans to develop projects here. In the meantime, it is go time for buyers looking at boarding the property boom bus in the nick of time. Little wonder then that property prices in Ayodhya have soared over 100% in the past year if private estimates are to be believed. The number of property deals has seen a similar phenomenon between early 2023 and 2025—the number of monthly property deals has risen 50-60 from a meagre 20 to 30 deals in a month.

As per industry reports, Ayodhya has left behind Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and other popular tourist destinations in terms of property queries, say property brokers.

See also: How a temple and an airport are driving real estate boom in Ayodhya

How to buy property in Ayodhya in 2025?

• Budget: Decide on the budget for your property and make a plan as to how you will raise the finances.
• Location: Evaluate the various areas in Ayodhya and check what best fits your budget. You can also choose a location that offers good rental rates so that in case you put your property on rent, there will be ongoing income in the form of rent.
• Resale value: Check the resale value of the property in the area that you have decided so that you get an idea about your property pricing as well.
• Loan eligibility:  Once budget is fixed, check your home loan eligibility and plan the finances accordingly.
• Due diligence: After zeroing in on the property, do a thorough due diligence so that you property investment is secure.
• Stamp duty and registration: Once you have decided on buying a property, paid the token money, create a sale deed and register the property in the legal book of records by paying the stamp duty and registration charges.

Boom within the boom: Rise in property frauds

Side by side, the number of property-related frauds has also seen an unprecedented hike in the past year. Sample this.

Kawal Kishore Shukla, who resides in a village under the Harraiya tehsil in the neighbouring Basti district lost Rs 15 lakh of his savings in a land fraud case in Ayodhya. Shukla, whose village is located nearly 24 km from the Ayodhya Ram Temple, was conned by unscrupulous fraudsters posing to be property brokers who promised a plot to the working principal in a government school overlooking the Sarayu River.

“I did not do the due diligence and fell right in the middle of the trap expecting proximity to the sacred temple and big gains on investment. However, after I lost my hard-earned savings which led me to do some personal investigation, I found out that the state government had already banned registration of land near the temple. If I had this valuation piece of information earlier, I could have saved my money and would have been spared the heartburn,” says Shukla.

In May 2023, the Uttar Pradesh Land Revenue Department published a list of 8 survey villages that are situated along the Sarayu River and have been exploited by land sharks.

The advisory by the department came only after a multi-crore land fraud was unearthed.

Non-government organization Vyakti Vikas Kendra, run by spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living, signed an agreement of Rs 9.5 crore with Ayodhya resident Abdul Kalam in February 2022 for a 5.3-hectare plot located in the Manjha Jamthara village. After the payment of stamp duty of over Rs 68 lakh to the state government, the deal was stalled after the local court of assistant revenue officer cancelled the mutation process in April 2023, stating the plot did not exist in entirety on the ground and was in the floodplains of the Saryu River.

The mega NGO was defrauded by an individual working in cahoots with revenue officials.

“The (entire) area presented in the purchase letter does not exist on the ground. The land falls in the floodplain area. Since no construction can be done in the area, no physical possession can be given in the floodplain area,” the assistant revenue officer said in his order.

These instances are grave and lead us to our next question, what options does a rookie buyer have if he wants to cash in on the prospects of the booming Ayodhya real estate without getting trapped in property frauds?

According to legal experts, investing in housing projects launched by the state government and reputed real estate developers would be a safer option.

“Land investing is typically more fraught with the possibility of fraud. No investor, big or small, is impervious to the con artistry of scamsters as had been made evident by the cases reported all over the world. A safer way to avoid being in a soup like this is to invest in RERA-registered projects of established developers,” says Prabhanshu Mishra, a Lucknow-based lawyer with specialisation in property law.

According to Mishra, the sheer potential of land as an investment growth tool is highly charming but it involves a greater degree of risk.  “The return on investment in the case of apartments is often not as steep. This is why most people are drawn to land,” adds Mishra.

According to Brajesh Mishra, a Gurgaon-based lawyer who hails from Pragyagraj in UP, awareness about local rules and regulations is another thing before you rush into signing a seemingly lucrative deal.

In you are, however, tempted to invest in land due to the sheer possibility of  future gains, make sure the ownership documents are verified with the help of legal experts. Large parts of land in Ayodhya either belongs to the state or the various Maths (religious institutes) operating in the city. Fraudsters have also been using forged papers to sell land owned by these maths, says Mishra.

Read also: All about Lodha’s upcoming project in Ayodhya 

Housing.com POV

Property is a very expensive investment and most people put in their life savings for buying one. It is important that you do a through due diligence whenever you buy a property so that you ensure that the investment done is safe and secure. Also, once you have decided, register the Ayodhya property in the legal book of records by paying the stamp duty and registration charges.