Builders can’t sell parking lots

You will no longer have to pay hefty amounts to secure a parking lot in your residential society. As per an order issued by the state cooperative department, the society, and not the builder, will have the right to allot parking lots and similar open spaces.

You will no longer have to pay hefty amounts to secure a parking lot in your residential society. As per an order issued by the state cooperative department, the society, and not the builder, will have the right to allot parking lots and similar open spaces.

HT Image

The order was issued based on a Supreme Court (SC) verdict, which had come down heavily on the sale of the parking lots by builders, a practice the SC termed ‘illegal’.

So far, builders have been charging flat purchasers exorbitant amounts for parking lots.

“The law clearly states that open spaces are the property of the society members, and not of the builders,” said Vinod Sampat, a lawyer specialising in real estate matters. He said that the state cooperative department has given clear directions to not recognise the rights of allottees in both, open as well as stilt parking spaces, which a few flat purchasers may have purchased from the builder. By implication, the order could be a problem in cases where people have purchased parking lots from builders, but the society management does not acknowledge the sale.

Predictably, the builder lobby has expressed its disappointment over the order.

“This will cause chaos, as we allot parking lots as per the requirement of flat owners,” said Lalit Kumar Jain, chairman and managing director, Kumar Builders.

A similar argument was made by Rajesh Vardhan, Managing Director, Vardhaman Group who claimed that a substantial amount goes into creating parking lots. “Builders will neglect parking lots if their right to sell these is snatched,” Vardhan said.