DREAM HOUSE OR NIGHTMARE?!

Recently, Property News Ahmedabad received an email from a distressed couple Mr. and Mrs. Mehta regarding a bad experience they had after investing with a well known real estate builder. They are desperately seeking further advice for the matter.

Mr. and Mrs. Mehta had booked their first ever flat after saving for a decade to pay the down payment... and were waiting for the good news.

5 years on, they are still waiting for the home they had visualized as their dream home.

The journey which began as a dream house has turned into their worst nightmare today.

The developers promised delivery of the flat almost a year and a half ago… today, the Mehtas and many other prospective home owners share the plight of this nightmare.

According to recent report by real estate analytics firm PropEquity, around 45% of housing projects have been delayed by more than a year. Delhi has the worst record ever – 75% delays closely followed by Mumbai and Bangalore. What exactly is going wrong?

Almost all major cities are facing this sort of a problem…where a dream housing project turns into a delayed housing project. What are the factors which cause these unnecessary delays in the project and stress in investors’ lives? 

Let us try to examine.

There are a variety of reasons for such delays…however; a major reason is government approvals. A new project which is just about to begin its construction requires 50-100 different types of permissions and approvals from the government. This process can be as long and tedious as 3 years!

…And after the truck loads of housing scams India has witnessed, the government has become more vigilant and strict about this process.

Apart from this, revised drafts of the building’s plan, unavailability of raw materials, labour issues, lack of finance etc also contribute heavily in the process of unavoidable delays.

It is shocking that only the Maharashtra government has introduced the Housing (Regulation and Development) Bill in 2012 as a regulatory attempt. The Central Government is still debating over its draft!

If you’re wondering what The Housing Bill is, it is basically a law which binds developers to make full and honest disclosure of the land title, provide accurate details about the entire project, the architects, engineers, contractors and everything associated with it. They have to define the time they will take to complete the project with dates of possession. Until this project report is not approved, they cannot market the project.

Plus, any sale where a potential investor needs to pay more than 20% as advance needs to be registered under the Registration Act of 1908.

…So why the malaise in passing this bill? 

Like in any typical government set up, things take time… hopefully the bill will be passed soon and such projects will be regulated.

If you are wondering what we as buyers should do, well, all we can say is, be vigilant, be alert and be firm about asking for all the needed documents and identification of the builder or the project. If you have invested or are planning to invest, do not hesitate in monitoring the progress at the construction site regularly.

Just for your information, until the bill is passed, you can approach the National Consumer Redressal Commission (NCDRC) for project delays or other such issues.

As far as good old Ahmedabad is concerned, major dream projects like Adani’s ambitious Shantigram or Godrej’s Garden City are underway too…thankfully without any delays and right on time!!!