Great News For Home Buyers: Real Estate Regulatory Bill To Put an End To Delays

BENGALURU: Are your builders delaying your dream home projects saying ‘next month’ every month? Well they can’t do that anymore with the Real Estate Regulatory Bill in place. The Union Cabinet by approving the Real Estate Regulatory Bill is trying to help us build our dream homes. Yes the ET reports that tussles between the home buyers and realty developers over delay in project completion are likely to come down after this move.

The Real Estate Regulatory Bill mandates the builder to maintain 50 percent of customer’s advance in the Escrow Account, a temporary account that operates until the completion of the project, and the funds utilized for the project can be generated from the same. Transferring the 50 percent advance must be done within 15 days of receiving money from the buyers.

The bill asks the developers to get consent of two-thirds of the customers for any changes to original plan or structure. Customers will now have access to all the crucial information regarding the project from now on. The consumers are expected to be relieved by the move. Good news is, the bill will cover the ongoing projects which are yet to be completed.

The bill which is now approved by the Union Cabinet will be an act once it is tabled and approved in the parliament. The real-estate experts believe that though the minimum balance for escrow accounts has been reduced from 70 percent to 50 percent, it is still a good enough amount to impose restrictions on the developers to divert funds elsewhere and ensure better completions. They also view that it is not just the diversion of the funds which delay the project but the government bodies and other civic bodies as well, which contribute to the delay. They suggest the bill to cover these concerns as well.

The bill is more than welcome by the buyers as well as the builders. Developers see that the bill makes way for greater transparency and better governance. They also believe that the move will lower the property prices to an extent. However, like any other bill the builders say this bill too has its loopholes which might pave way to corruption.

Getamber Anand, President of CREDAI said, "while it will certainly bring in transparency, there are a few things which, if not addressed, will lead to more corruption."

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