A delay in the formation of a regulatory authority has affected the launch of real estate projects in Bengal.

Delay in RERA formation hits Bengal housing

A delay in the formation of a regulatory authority has affected the launch of real estate projects in Bengal. Developers have lost out on new business opportunities while aggrieved home buyers were left in the lurch because of the delay.

Six months have passed since May 4 when the Supreme Court had struck down a Bengal specific act to govern real estate activities in the state as ‘unconstitutional’, prompting the Mamata Banerjee-government to come up with new rules following the central model act.

The housing department had notified rules on July 26, which laid down the legal framework for setting up the Real Estate Regulatory Authority. However, it is yet to become functional for the want of a chairman and members.

More than 100 projects are yet to see the light of the day for want of registration by RERA, which is a must before builders can solicit buyers for new projects. Likewise, several hundred complaints filed by harassed homebuyers are also awaiting adjudication of the authority.

The vacuum in the regulatory authority comes at a time the Mamata Banerjee government announced a relief in the rate of stamp duty and the circle rate to stimulate demand in the real estate sector and encourage buyers.

In the absence of the authority, neither are the developers able to launch projects and take advantage of the buoyancy in the market nor are buyers getting enough projects to choose from.

“It is a fact that project launches are getting delayed as the authority has not been formed. We hope it is done soon,” Nandu Belani, president of Credai, Bengal, said.

The formation of the regulatory authority involves a well laid-down search process. The chairperson and other members of the authority are to be appointed by the state government on the recommendations of a selection committee consisting of the chief justice of the high court or his nominee, the housing secretary and the law secretary or their nominees.

Sources said the selection committee has been formed even though a change of secretary in the housing department may have slowed down the process, apart from the puja holidays.

The selection committee would be required to recommend candidates which the government is bound to pick from to fill up the post of chairperson.

Some of the developers, however, are not willing to wait for the formation of the authority and registration before launch to avoid cost overrun. Sushil Mohta, president of Credai West Bengal and owner of Merlin Group, said he has advised members to go ahead without registration, if required.

“Our project is fully compliant with the rules framed under the West Bengal Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Rules, 2021. Once the authority is formed, we will take registration,” Mohta said when asked about a new Merlin project.

Not all developers are confident though. One of them pointed out there is no legal provision to register ongoing projects in the rule promulgated in July. “Some of us may not want to expose our projects to legal challenges and put buyers into jeopardy,” said a city-based developer who did not wish to be named.

Source: https://www.telegraphindia.com/business/delay-in-rera-formation-hits-bengal-housing/cid/1838319

The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Rajasthan, has disposed of almost 89.83% of the complaints received by the customer this year.

Rajasthan RERA disposed of 90% complaints from home-buyers this year

The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Rajasthan, has disposed of almost 89.83 % of the complaints received by the customers this year.

This state is at the third position in the country to resolve the problems of the home-buyers. An official said, “The Rajasthan RERA received 1,484 complaints till Diwali, which were redressed by the authority.”

After the enactment and implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, over 1,750 projects have been registered under RERA across the state. An official said, “For consumer protection, the regulatory body has made quarterly reports online and transparency in the system is ensured. The prospective buyer can take a comparative decision on buying a property after analysing the quarterly report of projects.”

“After the system was introduced, many people got aware and complained if there was an irregularity. RERA duly heard the complaint and redressed it on time,” the official added.

As per the mandatory provision, the promoter has to upload updates on the RERA website for the project at the end of each quarter on apartments/flats, status updates of each building, floor, internal infrastructure, and common areas construction. Other details, including information on approvals, bank account details, revision in plans, licence issues, permits or approvals for the projects also have to be displayed in a public forum.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/state-rera-disposed-of-90-complaints-from-home-buyers-this-year/articleshow/87573457.cms

The state's Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UP-RERA) has disposed of almost 80% of the 38,569 complaints received.

UP Rera has in four years disposed of almost 80% of the 38,569 complaints received

Of the total complaints filed with different state real estate regulators, almost 40% are from UP. And amongst the UP complaints, more than half are from Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.

The state’s Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UP-RERA) has stepped in to address the situation. In four years, it has disposed of almost 80% of the 38,569 complaints received.

“RERA has brought back confidence in the real estate sector and homebuyers now know the project will get completed,” said Balvinder Kumar, member, UP-RERA. “Builders are also increasingly becoming disciplined knowing they are being watched.”

According to the authority, about ₹150 crore has been recovered against about 1,000 recovery certificates and transferred to the accounts of homebuyers.

Promoters and homebuyers have reached settlements in respect of recovery certificates amounting to about ₹300 crore, suggesting almost 33% of the demand in these recovery certificates has been settled, according to the authority.

There are 2,959 projects registered with UP-RERA, out of which 1,125 projects, or about 38%, have been completed.

The regulator has also registered 126 projects from outside planning areas under its special orders to protect the interests of consumers.

Promoters have been penalised for not registering projects or updating status.

Amit Modi, director at ABA Corp and president (elect) of industry association Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (Credai) Western UP, says experienced realtors have greatly benefited from the authority’s moves.

“RERA has also ensured that the funds allocated for the project are only utilised in project development, and the chances of delayed deliveries are kept in check and get significantly reduced,” he said.

“The push and motivation that it (UP-RERA) has provided to developers to complete their projects on time and provide quality work have provided an unsurmountable economic boost to this sector,” said Sanjay Sharma, director at SKA Group.

The authority had a special focus on stuck projects and in many cases it brought developers and homebuyers on a common platform and helped resume construction.

According to Credai, around 190,000 units amounting to a valuation of ₹1 lakh crore are stuck in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.

“In some cases, the project is viable but is stalled because homebuyers were not confident of paying the balance amount to the builder. In such cases, we decided to monitor the project and have successfully resumed work on many projects,” Kumar of UP-RERA said.

During the first and second waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, the authority gave extension to builders to complete the projects. After the second wave, RERA identified 115 projects that will be given a nine-month extension, with the regulator monitoring the construction activity.

UP-RERA has also completed digitisation of various processes and set up e-courts. About 12,918 complaints have been registered through e-courts. Awareness in tier 2,3 cities and execution of its order is still a major challenge for RERA. And recovery has proved cumbersome. Of the close to 4,200 recovery certificates issued by the authority in four years, only 870 (20%) have been executed, where the penalty amount was recovered.

Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/property-/-cstruction/up-rera-has-in-four-years-disposed-of-almost-80-of-the-38569-complaints-received/articleshow/87335515.cms

RERA warns of action as 373 apartment projects unfinished

Karnataka-RERA warns of action as 373 apartment projects unfinished after deadline ends

Although the deadline was extended, real estate developers have completed a mere 51 of the 424 apartment projects, leaving thousands of homebuyers in the lurch, and prompting a stern reaction from Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA).

However, while K-RERA plans to act against defaulting developers, realtors say hurdles caused by the pandemic was the reason for projects lying incomplete and want deadlines pushed back by another six months.

K-RERA had extended the deadline for apartment projects that were supposed to be completed in April or later to September 30 as a relief measure to bolster the sector which was badly affected by the pandemic.

While data shows only a few projects have been completed within the extended deadline, KRERA officials said they will wait till the end of the month to assess the situation before cracking down on defaulting developers.

“Developers must face legal consequences if they are found to have failed to deliver flats to customers within the extended deadline. We will issue notices to them,” said HC Kishore Chandra, chairman, K-RERA.

Rules state if a builder fails to deliver a flat within the date mentioned in the sale agreement, then he must pay 9% interest on the value of the flat for the delayed period besides compensation fixed by K-RERA.

This is the third deadline extension developers were given after Covid-19 hit in March 2020. Based on the Centre’s directive, K-RERA first extended the deadline by six months from March 15, 2020 and subsequently extended it by another three months.

In all, 525 of 4,378 approved projects were unfinished within the stipulated time, while deadlines for 241 projects were extended for general reasons unrelated to Covid. While 284 applications seeking extension are still under process, the completion date has expired for 976 projects.

“This is a sorry state of affairs,” said MS Shankar, general secretary of Forum for People’s Collective Efforts. “Customers are in distress with no support forthcoming from the government. K-RERA should be proactive in enforcing rules and ensure justice for homebuyers.”

He said homebuyers must now wait longer for possession but must continue repaying home loans, while the government’s generosity is limited to developers. But developers argue that the extended deadline did not really benefit the sector since it was not uniformly applied to all projects.

“The K-RERA circular said any project that was due to be completed by April 1, 2020 gets extension up to September 30, 2020. This means the extension differs from project to project. For example, a project that was due for completion on September 29, 2020 would get an extension of only one day,” said Bhaskar Nagendrappa, president, CREDAIBengaluru, while demanding a uniform six-month extension.

But homebuyers say the extension was unwarranted as, unlike the first wave, there were no curbs on construction activity during the second Covid wave. But developers counter that saying business was severely hit because of the ferocity of infections and the higher fatality rate.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/karnataka-rera-warns-of-action-as-373-apartment-projects-unfinished-after-deadline-ends/articleshow/87221479.cms

Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority fines 3 developers Rs 4 crore for ‘illegal advertising.

H-Rera fines 3 developers Rs 4 crore for ‘illegal advertising’

Taking suo motu cognisance of ‘illegal Gurgaon: Taking suo motu cognisance of ‘illegal advertising’ of unregistered real estate projects, the Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (H-Rera) has imposed a penalty of Rs 4 crore on three developers.

H-Rera chairman KK Khandelwal said the Authority imposed a penalty of Rs 2.5 crore on M3M Pvt Ltd on Wednesday for advertising boutique floors at its project in Sector 89. An additional penalty of Rs 50 lakh was imposed on the realtor for another project, Smart World Floors in Sector 61.

“Along with this, a fine of Rs 50 lakh each was also slapped on two other developers, Smart World Developers and Suposhaa Realcon, who are M3M’s partners in the Smart World project,” he added.

TOI reached out to M3M for a comment but didn’t get a response.

Khandelwal said a malicious trend of advertising real estate projects without prior registration with the authority has been observed amongst developers. “It has been found that promoters are getting unregistered projects advertised, either directly or through agents, to lure investors,” he said.

According to the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, which came into force on May 1, 2017, promoters are required to register projects before advertisement, marketing or sale of any plot, apartment or building in any real estate project, the H-Rera chief said.

“The strict action of the Authority will send the right signals to erring builders and will go a long way in reposing the faith of allottees in the real estate sector. Such strict action will also act as a deterrent for the other builders who remain non-compliant towards the Act of 2016 and the directions passed by the Authority as per the provisions of the Act,” said an H-Rera official.

The H-Rera chief said these developers have been advertising their unregistered projects despite several directions. Members of the Authority, including Sameer Kumar and Vijay Kumar, took a serious view of the issue and expressed displeasure and dissatisfaction on such “unprofessional conduct” of the developers and observed that such developers should be meticulously punished for violations, Khandelwal added.

In January, H-Rera had imposed a penalty of nearly Rs 2.3 crore on three builders and ordered MCG to demolish the unauthorised structures they had built for advertising and selling projects without registering them under the Rera Act.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/h-rera-fines-3-developers-rs-4-crore-for-illegal-advertising/articleshow/87007240.cms

PM Narendra Modi emphasised that RERA Act has helped in getting the entire housing sector out of mistrust, fraud and helped & empowered all stakeholders.

RERA has brought housing sector out of fraud and mistrust: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. said that the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act has helped overcome serious problems of the urban middle class as regards home buying.

Inaugurating the Azadi@75 – New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape conference-cum-expo in Lucknow, Modi emphasised that RERA Act has helped in getting the entire housing sector out of mistrust and fraud and helped and empowered all stakeholders.

Modi also said that urban bodies are also saving about ₹1,000 crore every year by installing LED street lights. Now this amount, he informed, is being used for other development works. He added that LED has also greatly reduced the electricity bill of the people living in the city.

He also digitally handed over keys of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) houses to 75,000 beneficiaries in 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh during the event.

In addition to this, Modi laid the foundation stone of 75 Urban Development Projects of Uttar Pradesh under Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT. This event also saw flagging off of 75 buses under FAME-II for seven cities including Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Ghaziabad.

Stressing on the massive increase in the number of houses constructed under PM Awas Yojana as compared to previous numbers. Modi informed that more than 1.13 crore housing units have been constructed in the cities and, out of this, more than 50 lakh houses have already been built and handed over to the poor.

Taking a jibe at earlier governments for dragging their feet on implementing the schemes. Modi said that more than 18,000 houses were approved but not even 18 houses were constructed at that time. He said that now more than 9 lakh housing units were handed over to the urban poor and 14 lakh units are under various stages of construction.

Source: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/real-estate/rera-has-brought-housing-sector-out-of-fraud-and-mistrust-pm-modi/article36842379.ece

The Maharashtra government has appointed a retired judge and a retired IAS officer as full time members of the Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (MREAT) set up under Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act.

Mumbai: Two new members appointed on RERA tribunal

The Maharashtra government has appointed a retired judge and a retired IAS officer as full time members of the Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (MREAT) set up under Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act.

Retired judge SR Jagtap has been appointed as Member, Judicial, and retired IAS officer K Shivaji has been appointed as Member, Technical/Administrative to fill vacancies, the government order issued on Tuesday said.

Jagtap has served as the designated judge of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and as a special judge in Khed-Rajgurunagar near Pune district. K Shivaji is a 1986-batch Maharashtra cadre officer who served with the Asian Development Bank before his appointment in August 2020 as Secretary Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions with additional charge as Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

The two members will join the Tribunal presently headed by former High Court judge Justice (retd) Indira Jain. Set up on October 24, 2019, the three-member tribunal had retired IAS officer SS Sandhu serving as Member, Administrative, and retired judge Sumant Kolhe as Member, Judicial.

After Kolhe completed his term, only one bench consisting of the other two members was functioning. The tribunal adjudicates on the appeals filed against the orders passed by the housing regulator Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA).

Source: https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/mumbai-two-new-members-appointed-on-rera-tribunal

Top Builders are making Customers fool in Jammu and selling Flats worth Rs.65 lakhs or more without RERA registration.

One Builder Constructing Multiple Flat Projects In Jammu Without RERA

Top Builders are making Customers fool in Jammu and selling Flats worth Rs 65 lakhs or more without RERA registration.

Sources told Cross Town News, they have been selling/booking Flats without approving them from RERA , where one of them is constructing multiple Projects in Jammu and is the Boss.

The Act states that all ongoing as well as under-construction projects that have not received completion certificate have to get registered with the regulatory authorities within three months, i.e, July 31, 2017. Projects with a plot size of minimum 500 sq m or eight apartments will fall under the purview of the Act.

Section 3 of the Act says: “No promoter shall advertise, market, book, sell or offer for sale, or invite persons to purchase in any manner any plot, apartment or building, as the case may be, in any real estate project or part of it, in any planning area, without registering the real estate project with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority established under this Act.

With Jammu and Kashmir now UT , all Central Acts also come in picture including RERA, wheras in addition to this also on 16th Decemebr , 2018 , Jammu and Kashmir Real Estate ( Regulation & Development ) Act , 2018 came into picture.

Section 3 of the said project ,categorically said , without registration , no Selling/Booking can take place.

More Interestingly the Builder who is the Boss, who is making the Flats at Kunjwani Narwal Highway , Chowadhi and few allready existing projects in Jammu, is alos creating havoc in Lives of People also living nearby.

Many People staying nearby have forward complaint to the Builder to keep things in order, as Water sneaks into nearby House ,but he has kept a blind eye till now, puts a question how is bothered about lives of people.

Source: https://www.crosstownnews.in/post/69126/one-builder-contructing-multiple-flat-projects-in-jammu-without-rera-puts-life-of-near-by-in-danger.html

Gujarat Real Estate Regulatory Authority has extended the deadline for the submission of the annual report on the statement of accounts by real estate developers for fiscal 20-21.

GujRERA extends deadline to file annual report

Gujarat Real Estate Regulatory Authority (GujRERA) has extended the deadline for the submission of the annual report on statement of accounts by real estate developers for fiscal 2020-21. The last date for the submission has been extended till December 31, 2021, to provide relief to developers amid the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Real estate developers are required to submit the annual report on statement of accounts in Form-5 within six months after the end of every fiscal year for every registered project. The Covid-19 pandemic and the country-wide lockdown as well as restrictions halted all activities in the real estate sector, the state real estate regulator said in its recent order. It added that various other statutory bodies such as CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) have extended the due date for the submission of annual compliances. Providing a relaxation in the due date of the statutory compliance will give relief to promoters.

“The last date for the submission of Form-5 for the financial year 2020-21 which is due on 30th September 2021, is extended up to 31st December 2021,” Gujarat RERA said in its order.“Promoters and chartered accountants are required to comply with the requirement of submission of Form-5 by the revised time period,” the state authority added.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/gujrera-extends-deadline-to-file-annual-report/articleshow/86379008.cms

H-RERA has directed the developer to submit an affidavit by September 20 with details of the repairs done in the society to date and how the realtor plans to complete the remaining work.

Rera demands affidavit from developer on repair work

A month after the Gurgaon police registered a case against city-based Raheja Developers for poor construction quality of Raheja Vedaanta on the complaint of the department of town and country planning, the repair work at the Sector 108 residential society is far from complete. A senior town planner is supposed to monitor the repair work before a team from IIT-Delhi certifies the same.

Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (H-Rera) has now directed the developer to submit an affidavit by September 20 with details of the repairs done in the society to date and how the realtor plans to complete the remaining work. The real estate regulator is of the view that sufficient time has been given to the developer, TOI has learnt.

The society’s RWA highlighted that water seepage was taking place not only from the two basement floors but also from the expansion joints on the ground floor, and the need for urgent remedial measures. On the facade of the building, the developer will have to take immediate action for interim safety like installation of safety nets.

According to the RWA, the developer tried to shift the blame on the association saying they did not maintain the structure properly. “Till now, all the infrastructural assets have not been handed over to the RWA. Even the basic structural drawings of the buildings are yet to be given to the RWA,” said Gautam Sen, president of Vedaanta RWA.

When contacted, the developer refused to comment.

Spread across 10.68 acres of land in Sector 108, the developer got a licence for the residential group housing society in 2007 from DTCP. Construction work at the project site started in 2008 and the developer started giving possession to homebuyers from 2014. The issues regarding structural issues have been raised by the residents since 2018. The DTCP got the FIR lodged against the developer in August.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/rera-demands-affidavit-from-developer-on-repair-work/articleshow/86129733.cms