Homebuyer’s charter of demands
The Hindustan Times, New Delhi edition published on 23 May 2014 a charter of demand’s raised by homebuyers. I’ve attached the article as it is, my quote on the matter was also highlighted.
In summary, the following demands are raised by homebuyers:
a. A regulator for the real estate sector
b. A unified apartment act across the country
c. Strict implementation of apartment act / building by-laws
d. Standard builder-buyer’s agreements approved by the regulator
e. Strict monitoring of loan sanctioning by private/public financial institutions to real estate by RBI
f. Competent authorities should be made more accountable
g. Mandatory and independent rating of the developers
h. Digitisation of the revenue records
i. Under-litigation properties should reflect in revenue records
Particularly for Haryana, where multiple acts and rules apply for apartment & home buyers, I’m further suggesting the following to reduce homebuyers plight:
1. Government should only issue a license to a colonizer on plots of land where facilities such as access roads, electricity, sewage lines have been completed by the concerned departments.2. The HARYANA DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATION OF URBAN AREAS ACT, 1975 should be modified so that the license issued to a colonizer for a project automatically expires after the competition of 5 years. In those 5 years, Department of Town & Country Planning (DTCP) should monitor the progress of the project annually and take a report both from the builder and the buyers of apartments on the progress of construction.3. Once the layout & building plans are sanctioned for a proposed colony and the builder has booked even one apartment in the colony, no further changes to the approved layout plans should be done by any authority. In case builder makes changes during construction, heavy penalty should be applied.4. From the date of issue of license of a colony, the colony should automatically be handed over to the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) on the completion of 5 years. This will allow MCG to plan ahead for provision of amenities to upcoming colonies.5. Once a builder starts construction of a colony, the process of providing part-completion certificate for portions of the colony must be stopped. This flaw allows builders to get completion certificate without creating necessary common infrastructure. Entire construction should be completed within the 5 year license period and competition certificate for entire colony should be provided in one go, after all the infrastructure has been created.6. The DTCP must come out with clear policy on the charges a colonizer can impose on apartment buyers. Colonizers should only be allowed to charge buyers for approved FAR of the apartments. Cost of all common areas, such as parking, clubhouse and any other amenity promised to apartment buyers should be incorporated within the FAR of the apartment only.7. For any colony, the government policy must make the colonizer responsible for all technical facilities & equipment (motors, lifts, generators etc) in the colony for a period of 3 years from the date of completion of the colony. A security deposit from the builder, equivalent to the amount charged from apartment owners as Internal Development Charges should be maintained by the government till end of maintenance period.8. The government must change the process of creating schools inside private residential colonies. Common land for schools for multiple colonies should be identifies so that larger land parcels are available for schools with playgrounds for the children of nearby colonies.9. The government & DTCP, through modification of Acts, Rules & policies must recognise those home buyers who have booked apartments but have not yet got the possession. The Haryana Apartment Ownership act must apply from the time of booking of apartments, not after the Deed of Declaration has been filed by the builder.10. A bench of the High Court should be situated in Gurgaon to fast-track all pending cases related to real-estate. Since housing is a key concern to all families, a dedicated High Court bench should resolve all housing related matters henceforth.
I do hope the new central government and the soon to be elected Haryana state government will look into these issues. Get more information here.
Housing is a basic necessity of citizens and the largest investment made by many individuals in their lives. By implementing these changes, the government will be addressing many concerns of citizens.
The original HT article is here: 2014-05-23-HT-Delhi