The rapid urbanization of India brings with it a change in the social fabric and the financial habits of the ever burgeoning middle class. For instance, the emergence of nuclear families, they plan their shelters in urban and semi-urban locations in apartments by raising loans for periods of 20 years or more, a contrasting shift from yesteryears where preference was to live in houses and purchase them with little or no debt. As this trend grows more and more young Indians are investing in housing, needless to say housing remains undoubtedly the single most important investment by individuals and families alike: Then why the recent lackluster performance by the residential sector? Upon drilling deeper into the reasons of why the market is under-performing we generally hear the industry pundits referring to ?low sentiment & trust? of delivery or completion of the projects as a major one. In inference, trust is directly proportional to timely delivery with completion certificate.
So what is this Completion Certificate and does RERA protect the home buyer and unite & embrace the vastness and diverseness of the states formulated development plans, rules, regulations and authorities?
The completion certificate; in my opinion is the most crucial document that every real estate developer should obtain before offering possession to home buyers in a ready-to-move-in project. The real estate laws in every state make it mandatory for every developer to obtain completion certificate. And under RERA the meaning of completion certificate becomes even more detailed and encompassing i.e. the project has been developed according to the sanctioned plan, layout plan and specifications, as approved by the relevant and competent authority and a certificate issued by that authority. In essence it does provide protection and unifies the understanding and process of project completion.
To clear my understanding on the subject I leaned on my friends in the fraternity who continually are deciphering RERA and they say that under the act, those projects which are ongoing and whose completion certificate is pending, their promoters will have to register them with the regulator. Once notified (possibly in a year) the act will empower buyers to lodge complaints with the regulator, thus ensuring that the projects are reviewed for completion.
The registration of these projects with the proposed real estate regulator entails, disclosure of all details of the project such as land area, sanctioned layout plan, pro-forma of the allotment letter, agreement to sale etc. also a declaration on the legal ownership over land, completion time etc. The purpose of registering the property with the proposed regulator is to safeguard the interest of the home buyers by having all the details of launched or upcoming project on the website of the authority.
The legal provision of registering upcoming or ongoing projects with regulator empowers buyers to lodge complaints with the regulator if the developer hasn?t or doesn?t register the project.? On the flip side it will open a floodgate of complaints in the short term. It?s important to see how the regulator will handle such complaints and redress them within sixty days from the date of filing of the complaint as mandated in RERA. That said the intent of the act seems welfare of the home buyers and should ensure that post RERA ?no possession without completion?.