India, Feb. 1 -- For decades, buying and selling property in Chandigarh has been as much an administrative process as a financial one. Files moved slowly, permissions mattered, and the Estate Office was not a silent bystander but a gatekeeper. Now, with the UT administration planning to actively facilitate the sale and purchase of private properties, that balance is set to change.

What appears, on the surface, as a procedural reform may quietly alter how the city values land, housing and stability itself, especially for those who have long relied on the predictability of a tightly regulated system. At its core, the move aims to streamline transactions. Fewer delays, clearer processes and less dependence on informal intermediaries are bei...