They said despite serving repeated notices to the defaulters, no effort was made to pay the default.

GHB had allotted the houses in 1998, and since then some 90 owners had failed to pay the instalments. They were asked to pay the due amount or face seizure of the houses. The final notice was served on January 18, a GHB official said.

“Some of the defaulters had paid a few instalments. They were repeatedly asked to pay the instalments. But they never bothered to pay. We were left with no other option,” a GHB official said.

In the first phase, 25 houses were sealed on Tuesday, with the remaining 65 to be sealed shortly. The GHB had constructed 624 houses for the low-income group, in 1998.

Residents and defaulters have, however, alleged that they were allotted houses in a very bad condition, and have spent thousand of rupees on repair.