Planning to buy a new apartment? Read this…

Good news for all those planning to buy an apartment. Bowing to incessant complaints of late delivery, plan alterations, and even outright cheating by real estate developers, the Central Government is planning to introduce a new bill in Parliament – Model Real Estate (Regulation of Development) Act. The Act also envisages the establishment of a new body, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, which will have sweeping powers for regulation of all residential real estate projects. The draft is ready and available for public review Here.

(The bill was planned to be tabled in Parliament during the last Winter Session, but the Telengana issue forced the House to adjourn. It will now be introduced during the coming Budget Session. Bookmark this page at technoparktoday.com to get the latest status of the Bill).

The main features of the new law will be:
•    No person shall develop land into plots or construct a building (of apartments) for public sale, without registering it with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), except when there are less than 5 dwelling units or the total land area does not exceed 1000 sq.m (25 cents)
•    Every builder/promoter needs to register with RERA for each project, with details such as number and size of plots, area, layout and facilities, permission from municipality and any other as maybe demanded by RERA
•    Once registered, RERA will put up the details in its website for the information of the public
•    Every builder shall make available to anyone intending to make a purchase, all details including building permission from municipality, land title ownership from Sub-Divisional Magistrate (RDO), plan layout, common facilities etc
•    No builder shall issue any advertisement/prospectus without RERA registration
•    If any statement in the advt/prospectus is untrue, any person from whom money has been collected shall have the right to be compensated for the entire amount PLUS interest at the prevailing rate of interest
•    The builder shall not collect any deposit without entering into an agreement of sale, which should include details like the date of possession, area, price, common facilities, essential services (such as water, electricity, sewage, sanitary services etc)
•    The builder shall not mortgage the project without approval from RERA
•    No change in approved plans or project specifications is permissible unless approved by RERA
•    The builder is responsible for obtaining the completion certificate from the municipal authority
•    Once project is completed, the builder has to hand over the possession certificate to the allottee. If this is not done within a specified time, RERA has the legal right to hand over the possession to the allottee

Since the law will come into effect only after it is passed by Parliament and receives Presidential consent, those interested in buying apartments may well wait until then. You have (or will have to) put a lifetime of hard work for this endeavor. It is worth the wait.