Residential property buying and selling is all set to become an effortless exercise, thanks to the proposed Real Estate Regulatory Bill. Once the bill becomes a law, prospective buyers can be rest assured about the quality of construction, timeframe for completing the project and of course transparency in pricing.
The bill will also ensure unorganised players (local builders), who are active even in major cities, either embrace standard building practices or perish.
“The bill will help local builders inculcate self-discipline and evolve into organised players over the next three years, by when we anticipate the bill will actually become an Act,” Ramu Babu, general manager of Shanta Sriram Constructions, told Express.
“By imposing strict regulations on the promoter, the bill will ensure construction on time besides ensuring the buyer gets the property as per the specifications promised,” said Anuj Puri, Chairman and country head of Jones Lang LaSalle India, a realty sector consultant.
According to C Sekhar Reddy, managing director of CSR Estates Ltd, the proposed dispute resolution mechanism will provide a specialised forum for hearing disputes related to property matters and address the grievances of the consumer who otherwise has had recourse to either a prolonged litigation process in a court of law or consumers courts.
Interestingly, the bill seeks to prevent developers from putting out misleading advertisements, which make promises and are not backed by the real development on ground. “Builders cannot market the project unless necessary approvals are in place. By making registration of the project compulsory with the Regulatory Authority, the bill aims at providing greater transparency in project marketing and execution,” said Reddy.
But analysts also anticipate the bill may create an upward pressure on prices due to cost implications with developers waiting to launch projects only after approvals are in place.
“We may see a noticeable slowdown in launches of new projects, as getting all the necessary permissions in place is a long and tedious process, which may delay the entire process of launching a project, unless the government follows up with much-needed administrative reforms that speed up the process,” said Puri.