Help for home buyers

Promises not kept. Delays not compensated for. Apartments not delivered to specifications. Funds diverted to other projects. Vandana Ramnani reports. Getting real: how the bill will work

Updated on: Jun 6, 2013, 22:37:58 IST

Hindustan Times | By Vandana Ramnani, New Delhi

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Promises not kept. Delays not compensated for. Apartments not delivered to specifications. Funds diverted to other projects.

India’s home buyers who have frequently faced complaints like these in buying roofs to rest under can take heart. The planned law to regulate the real estate industry is out to plug holes that will make home buying easier for millions.

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill 2013 cleared by the cabinet this week — and headed for Parliament eventually — will set up a regulatory watchdog and a dispute resolution mechanism to help home buyers.

Once the law is in place, developers can launch projects only after getting all official clearances — such as floor area ratio (FAR). And carpet area, rather than the vague super area, will be the measure in a property sale.

“Provisions such as restricting launch of projects or advertisements unless all approvals are received... and sale of projects based on carpet area will indeed help bring in transparency,” said Sachin Sandhir, managing director, South Asia for RICS, a UK-based realty industry body.

Builders call the Bill a watershed but said they could also do with some help.

“The bill in its current form does not provide any relief in terms of getting through the cumbersome approvals and permissions process in any expeditious manner,” said Getamber Anand, chairman of ATS Infrastructure and president-elect, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India.

“The Bill improves transparency and entitles allottees a refund in the case of a project default at their will,” said Amit Jain, director-general of the Federation of Apartment Owners Associations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vandana Ramnani
Vandana Ramnani leads the real estate vertical at Hindustan Times Digital, bringing over two decades of journalism experience across real estate, education, human resources, and foreign affairs. She specialises in India’s real estate sector, covering residential and commercial markets in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, with in-depth reporting on regulatory developments, urban policy, housing trends, and interviews with industry leaders. Her work has also appeared in the Hindustan Times newspaper and HT Estates. Earlier, Vandana played a key role in establishing the real estate vertical at Moneycontrol (NW18 Group), shaping its editorial direction and market coverage. She has also written extensively on international education for HT Education, tracking global study destinations, policy changes, and student mobility trends, earning the Singapore Education Award 2009 for Best Media Coverage (Print). Her reporting portfolio includes human resources and employment trends for HT ShineJobs and PowerJobs, as well as lifestyle and interior design features for HT Premium Homes. Vandana began her career with the Press Trust of India, gaining strong editorial and reporting expertise. She was also selected for a prestigious fellowship at Fondation Journalistes en Europe in Paris, where she wrote for EuroMag. One of her notable reporting assignments included covering Germany’s capital relocation from Bonn to Berlin. Outside of journalism, Vandana is a passionate traveller, constantly seeking out charming hideaways across India and the lesser-known, offbeat corners of Southeast Asia.Read More

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