No house, no vote campaign by Greater Noida homebuyers trends on twitter
Homebuyers awaiting possession of their apartments in Noida Extension hope to attract the attention of government authorities through social media to get possession of their homes
Five Navratras have gone by but these homebuyers are still awaiting possession of the apartments they booked in Greater Noida West or Noida Extension. Despite several reminders and holding several meetings with officials of the realty companies concerned, not much work has happened on the ground. This time around, they have launched a signature campaign on Twitter and called it #NoHouseNoVote and got 30,000 responses.
Over a thousand homebuyers, who are currently paying both their equated monthly installments and rent, have been tweeting their photographs with the hashtag. They have also tagged the chief minister as part of their campaign to get delivery of their homes soon.
“As many as 1.5 lakh homebuyers have invested in projects in Greater Noida West but only 8,000 homes have been delivered so far. Timely possession of houses should be an important issue in the upcoming elections and we want to highlight this through our Twitter campaign. Besides homebuyers waiting to get delivery of their homes, a large number of people who have moved in are also supporting us because they too are facing infrastructure problems,” says Abhishek Kumar, president of Noida Extension Flat Owners Welfare Association (NEFOWA).
A buyer who bought an apartment in Paramount’s project Paramount Emotions in July 2010 says he has been witness to three changes in the size of the unit and two agreements. “The size of the apartment has been changed thrice - from 1190 sq ft to 1380 sq ft now. I have paid 95% cost of the apartment but it was not handed over to me in June 2016 as promised in the agreement. The agreement also has a provision of grace period of six months for the builder which means that the builder is not liable to pay penalty until December 2016, but the rate at which construction work is progressing, it’s unlikely that the work will get over in December,” he says.
A spokesperson from the company says that the first phase of the project will be delivered in December 2016 as the grace period is not over. Interestingly, the builder is offering a ‘doubled delayed’ penalty for customers who book apartments in this project as part of its Navratra offer this season. What this means is that if the rate of interest paid as penalty to the homebuyer is currently Rs 5 per sq ft, for those who book apartments during the Navratra season, the penalty for delay in possession will be Rs 10 per sq ft.
Another buyer who booked an apartment in Earth Towne by Earth Infrastructure Ltd is still chasing his dream of moving into his own house. “I booked an apartment in 2010 but till date I am yet to receive possession. The allotment letter states that I will get delivery of the apartment in 36 plus six months from the date of the approval of the Master Plan by Greater Noida Authority. The Master Plan was approved in April 2011, which means that possession should have been handed over by September 2014. We are trying to knock at each and every door and this is yet another attempt. The builder has promised to deliver six towers by December this year but currently there is no work happening on ground,” he says.
Calls made to the builder did not get a response.
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