Deadline ends: 23 states, UTs set up real estate regulatory

With the deadline for mandatory registration of ongoing projects under real estate rules ending today, 23 states and UTs have either established permanent or interim regulatory authority for the purpose. 

Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERDA), every state and UT must have its own regulator. Developers will not be able to market their projects, both ongoing or upcoming, till they register either with the permanent or interim regulator in states. 

For ongoing projects, where completion or occupancy certificate has not been given, the deadline for registration ends today. 

Only 4 states -- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab -- have established permanent Real Estate Regulatory Authority, while 19 states/UTs have established interim authority, an official with the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said. 

Till now, only 23 States/UTs have notified the rules under the Act, while six states have drafted the rules but have not yet notified. 

A total of nine states/UTs have appointed interim Appellate Tribunal under the Real Estate Act, while only 7 states have started the online registration under the Act. 

Maharashtra has received about 3,700 applications for project registration and 3,800 for agent registrations, while Gujarat got 110 applications for registration of projects and 80 for agents, the official said. 

Madhya Pradesh got 700 applications for registration, both projects and agents, while Karnataka got about 160 applications for project registration and 54 for agent registrations, he added. 

Rajasthan received about 196 applications for Project Registration and 143 for agent registrations, the official said.  Source- Business Standard

Big relief to UP builders, Yogi Adityanath government redefines ongoing projects

The Uttar Pradesh government’s real estate rules have amended the definition of an “ongoing project”, allowing a builder to be exempt from the purview of Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA) even if he has just applied for a licence or received a part-completion certificate before the Act was notified.This effectively means that those builders who do not complete projects and leave home buyers in the lurch cannot be penalised as per RERA guidelines.

Clauses related to penalties for non-compliance by developers have also been diluted. While Central RERA recommends imprisonment for a term which may extend up to three years, or fine which may extend up to 10% of the estimated cost of the real estate project, or both, UP has included compounding of offence clause to avoid imprisonment and even the compounding has been limited to ‘maximum 10% of the estimated cost of the real estate project’, which means it may even be zero in some cases.
This is likely to encourage corruption as quantum of money to be paid will be at the discretion of the authority. As was given in the central draft rules and also provided in the final rules, this should be rolled back to match the Centre’s rule on ‘compounding’,” says Abhay Upadhyay national convener of Fight for RERA. As on date, around 834 developers have registered with the portal.

“UP has decided to keep all those projects outside the purview of RERA which have been either issued, or have applied for occupancy certificates. The main problem here is that of delayed possession. Projects that were launched 7-10 years back are still not completed. And because of this clause they will get an escape route. Home buyers who are battling these builders will find no redressal under RERA,” said Indresh Gupta, co-founder, Noida Extension Flat Owners’ Association.

According to industry officials, in Noida alone, around 50 under-construction group housing projects have been delayed by three to four years due to the slowdown in the realty sector. This has affected around one lakh buyers who had invested in projects that were to be delivered by 2012.

In Greater Noida, around 3 lakh home buyers in 63 delayed realty projects are yet to get possession of flats that were to be delivered from 2012. Similarly, 13 realty projects in the Yamuna Expressway industrial area, along the 165-km Yamuna Expressway connecting Greater Noida with Agra, are yet to be delivered.

“By exempting projects for which an application for completion or occupation certificate (CC/OC) has been made on or before the rules are notified, UP has taken a lenient attitude towards builders. A CC is a certificate given by the competent authority that the real estate project has been developed according to the sanctioned plan, layout and specifications as approved by the authority. An OC is a certificate issued by the competent authority to the developer permitting buyers to move into their apartments.

The Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to continue with the watered-down version of RERA rules that were notified by the Samajwadi Party government in October last year, has come as a major setback to home buyers in the state. These diluted rules are far more lenient to builders than those in the central RERA or Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 and therefore make it easier for them to evade the regulator.

 Source- Financial Express

Mid-term revision of circle rates likely for Jewar

The district administration on Thursday held a meeting with different stakeholders and discussed the feedback received for revision of circle rates, which will come into effect from August 1. Though the officials have not talked about any change, a mid-term revision of circle rates of Jewar is possible after the government gave the nod for an airport in the area.

Sources said the administration received nine feedbacks–Noida (7), Greater Noida (1) and Dadri (1) and applicants requested the officials to decrease the circle rate due to slowdown in real estate sector, also pointing out that circle rates in some areas are higher than the market rate. The administration had asked people and developers to submit the feedback by April 25.

The administration last week said it had decided against increasing the circle rates of property under the three authorities. However, it said the feedbacks collected from different stakeholders will be incorporated in the final decision. The buyers and developers claim that the real estate sector is down for some time due to demonetisation.

The circle rate is the minimum value at which the second sale or transfer of property takes place. The properties in different sectors in Noida are classified in five categories – residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and IT. The rates also differ accordingly in different sectors.

District magistrate B N Singh chaired the meeting of stakeholders and discussed the issue. “We will analyse the feedback and take a final decision. We will share the details in a press conference on Friday,” he said.

The district magistrate directed the registration department to expedite work and ensure that the buyers do not shift into houses without registry. “We have received information that some buyers are shifting to flats without registry. This results in losses to the government exchequer. The officials should conduct special enforcement drive and issue notices to such buyers and builders,” said the DM.

He said that the administration will identify such housing societies nearing completion and fix dates for registration of flats. The administration also plans to initiate action if the registration process is not completed on time.

Source- ET Realty

Affordable housing may be next big theme

The government's efforts to boost affordable housing in a bid to attain the goal of `Housing for All by 2022' have started to yield positive results. All indicators including the much-needed supply; pick-up in housing loans and sales in this category are cumulatively pointing towards an uptrend. However, price rise has been arrested due to good supply and this has been helping in maintaining affordability.

Several incentives for affordable housing including the infrastructure tag, extension in the timeline for project completion and with regards to the size of these houses have been helpful in drawing interest for all the relevant stakeholders including developers, financiers and most importantly home buyers.

Share prices of real estate and cement companies have already been moving up on account of this major affordable housing push trickling into other segments of the business and driving revenues.

Source- ET Realty

With RERA coming into effect, promoters, estate agents queue up to get registered before July 31

With the notification of Real Estate (Development & Regulation) Rules 2017, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) office has started receiving applications from promoters and estate agents for registration under the new law.

A statement on Saturday said that the applications received alongwith required documents and fees are being processed before issuing a registration certificate to the applicant promoters and estate agents. “With the last date approaching, RERA is expecting a large number of applications for registration. Till date, 6 promoters of various projects in the state and 3 real estate agents have applied to RERA for registration,” it said.

The last date for registration is July 31. “All promoters and estate agents in the state will come forward and get themselves and their projects registered to avoid any kind of hindrance in their business. This will also help them escape the penalty,” the statement said.

Vini Mahajan, additional chief secretary, Department of Housing & Urban Development-cum-Real Estate Regulatory Authority Punjab said in a statement on Saturday, “The need to register under the Act revealed that Section 3 (1) of the aforesaid act mandates that no promoter can advertise, market, book, sell or offer for sale or invite intending buyers to purchase any plot, apartment or building in a real estate project without registering the project with the Real Estate Authority established under the new law,” she said.

“Also, the projects which are currently ongoing on the date of commencement of this Act and for which the completion certificate has not been obtained, are required to get registered with RERA within 3 months from the date of commencement of the Act, i.e. upto July 31.”

 Source- Indian Express

Uttar Pradesh to launch RERA website today

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government will launch the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) website here on Wednesday, officials said on Tuesday.

The website will be open for all and people can, at any point of time, verify details about the builders antecedents, including their registration number.

Mukul Singhal, Principal Secretary (Housing) said the website has been developed to ensure that people do not have to take rounds of offices to verify builder details and that at a click of a button they can have complete information on the builders from who he or she is planning to buy a property.

He also informed that as soon as the builder or developer feeds all the data relevant to his or her company, they would be given a unique identity number immediately.

Earlier, this process, would have taken a minimum of 45 days.

The officials of the Housing Department said that after initial delay the state was ready to implement RERA with immediate effect.


Source- ET Realty

HUDCO reports 52% YoY rise in net profit at Rs 211 crore in Q1

Housing and Urban Development Corporation(HUDCO) on Monday reported 52 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit at Rs 210.85 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 against Rs 138.74 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Total revenue of the government-owned housing and infrastructure finance firm jumped 4.26 per cent YoY to Rs 929.08 crore during the quarter under review. It had reported total revenue of Rs 891.11 crore in the same period last year.

Profit before tax of the company stood at Rs 211.97 crore in Q1FY18 against Rs 204.43 crore in Q1FY17.

Shares of the company settled 0.96 per cent down at Rs 87.90 on Monday.

Percentage of gross non-performing assets jumped to 7.20 per cent in Q1FY18 from 6.02 per cent in the sequential quarter ended March 31, 2017. Net NPA stood almost increased to 1.98 per cent from 1.15 per cent during the same period.

30 residential plots in Gurugram to be auctioned next month

GURUGRAM: Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) is planing to auction 30 residential plots on August 13 to raise around Rs 38 crore. Reeling under a financial crisis, the Authority is selling its properties at regular intervals to raise funds.

All the plots are in Sector 9A. Out of the 30 plots up for auction, seven are of 1 kanal size (approximately 5,440 sq ft), eight are of 14 marla (around 270 sq ft), seven are of 10 marla, five are of 8 marla and three plots are of 2 marla. The plots of 1 kanal have a reserve price of Rs 2 crore, while 14 marla plots have a reserve price of Rs 1.37 crore. The 10 marla plots will start at Rs 1.05 crore, and the 8 marla plots have a reserve price of Rs 87 lakh. The 2 marla plots will be available for Rs 24 lakh.

Those interested in bidding for the plots will have to deposit 10% of the reserve price of the plot for which they are willing to bid. “We have received a good response to our properties so far, and are hoping that all the properties will be sold during the e-auction,” a senior Huda official told TOI, adding that residential and institutional properties are easily sold out.

The cash-strapped civic body is banking on selling its properties to meet its daily expenses. For this, Huda has been carrying out auction of property at regular intervals for the last one year. “We are hoping to collect Rs 100 crore in a month from the auction of properties. Till now, we have been putting up 30 properties at a time for auction. We are now planning to increase the limit to put up as many properties as possible under the hammer during an auction,” the official said.

At a time when the real estate market is going through a bad phase, Huda has so far been successful in selling its properties through online auctions. Huda has successfully raised nearly Rs 700 crores by selling its properties through e-auction since May 2016. “We have been getting a very good response from residents. Most of the properties are being sold above the reserve price,” the official added.

Cement demand growth likely to recover by 5% during FY18

MUMBAI: Country's cement demand growth is expected to recover to around 5 per cent during FY18, driven by a pick-up in the infrastructure and housing segments, a report said.

"We expects cement demand growth to recover to around 5 per cent during FY2018 as against a decline of 1.2 per cent in FY2017, driven by a pick-up in the infrastructure segment, mostly road and irrigation projects and the housing segment," ICRA said in a report.

"While in the short term, demonetisation has had a negative impact on real estate and construction activities and hence on the cement off-take, the impact has started to subside from Q1 FY2018 driven by a pick-up in the infrastructure segment.

"Further, the increased budgetary allocation for the infrastructure sector, which includes roads, railways, metro, irrigation and housing, during FY2018 will directly and indirectly support cement demand," said ICRA Ratings senior vice president & group head Sabyasachi Majumdar.

The higher rural credit and increased allocation for rural, agricultural and allied sectors, including the demand for rural housing, are significant contributors to the overall cement demand mix, added Majumdar.

Cement prices have also recovered from February 2017 and reached pre-demonetisation levels in most markets by April 2017. While improvement in the supply-demand scenario in FY2018 is expected to support the cement prices going forward, sustenance of the same is critical, given the rising costs, ICRA said.

 

Source- ET Realty

Land titling project may pass in monsoon session

PUNE: The Centre's push to set up a task force by Niti Aayog is likely to speed up the state government's pending amendment to the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 Act related to land titling in the monsoon session.

On Tuesday , the central task force was appointed by Niti Aayog for land titling under the chairmanship of Tajamul Haque. It also includes Maharashtra settlement commissioner and director of land records S Chockolingam.

The appointment of the task force ready a roadmap, form a legal framework and recommend it to Parliament.While the recommendations would also highlight how the states will implement it, the Maharashtra government's attempt to ensure a litigation-free land title is still pending.

“The amendments have been proposed in the Maha rashtra Land Revenue Code (MLRC) for land titling. The final process is yet to be completed,“ said Chockolingam, who will attending the central meeting on the issue on Thursday.

Having readied the project and following it up with the Centre and the state to clear land titles, the proposed amendments are set to provide all information related to immovable properties and deals.

Currently , there is no sy stem of recording titles over the property by a public authority and the purchasers are at the mercy of lawyers who have to do a search report and establish title. This will change with the amendments, stated senior revenue officials. “The draft bill to amend the MLRC, 1966 is expected to be tabled beginning July 24,“ he said.

He added, “The titling system will protect persons from any kind of malpractices in land deals.“

Urban development portfolio given to Narendra Singh Tomar

The Government on Tuesday announced that the Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar, has been given the additional charge of the Ministry of Urban Development.

Meanwhile, the Union Minister for Textiles, Smriti Irani, has been given the additional charge of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

This announcement came after BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu, who is the government's nominee for the position of Vice-President, resigned from his ministerial responsibilities.

In a tweet, the Prime Minister Office said: "Shri @MVenkaiahNaidu has resigned from his ministerial responsibilities. Additional charge of @Moud_India has been given to Shri @nstomar.The additional charge of the Ministry of I&B has been given to @smritiirani."

 Source- The Hindu Business Line

DDA 'guides' to push sale of new flats

Delhi/NCR

Seeking to facilitate visits by prospective buyers to different DDA flats being offered as part of its new housing scheme, the urban body has deputed dedicated representatives at various project sites to guide the visitors.

The DDA 2017 housing scheme rolled out on June 30 by urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu offers 12,000 flats across four income categories. The flats are spread across Rohini, Dwarka, Narela, Vasant Kunj, Jasola, Pitampura, Paschim Vihar and Siraspur.

The flats are spread across Rohini, Dwarka, Narela, Vasant Kunj, Jasola, Pitampura, Paschim Vihar and Siraspur.

"Prospective buyers can visit the flats. They can come and have a look at the facilities. And to facilitate their visits, we have deputed representatives at various flat sites, who will guide people, who are interested in applying for the DDA scheme," a senior DDA official said.

When asked, which areas are getting more visitors, he only said, as of now, "only three-four housing sites are being visited by prospective buyers". He, however, did not mention names of those sites.

Around 10,000 unoccupied flats are from the 2014 housing scheme, while 2,000 flats have been lying vacant.

The move by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to allow and facilitate visit to flats is apparently to make people comfortable about the features of the flats and the facilities being offered.

The draw of lots is slated to be conducted in the first week of November which would be streamed online. The last date for submitting applications is August 11.

The price of flats range from close to Rs 7 lakh to over Rs 1.26 crore.

The four categories of houses are -HIG with 87 flats ranging from Rs 53.52 lakh to Rs 126.81 lakh; MIG with 404 flats ranging from Rs 31.32 lakh to Rs 93.95 lakh; LIG one-bed room flats numbering 11,197 and ranging from Rs 14.50 lakh to Rs 30.30 lakh; and 384 Janta flats ranging from Rs 7.07 lakh to Rs 12.76 lakh.

"People are free to visit the areas where the flats are being offered. We have also removed the lock-in period clause, as we realised this was also a factor in buyers surrendering flats," the official said.

Source: Economic Times, Delhi/NCR

No circle rate hike in Noida this year

The district administration has decided against increasing the circle rates of property under the three authorities.The decision reflects the ground situation as real estate is in recession, believed to be fallout of demonetisation.The circle rate is the minimum value at which the sale or transfer of property takes place. The properties in Noida are classified into five categories — residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and IT.The rates also differ depending on the sector.The district administration reviews circle rates and revises them in accordance with the rates submitted by the development authorities. District magistrate B N Singh said the administration has decided against hiking the circle rates in all areas under Noida Authority, GNIDA and YEIDA. “We will take a final decision after analysing feedback from residents, builders and other stakeholders,” he said.The district administration has invited feedback from people regarding the move by July 25. Officials will analyse the feedback and may incorporate minor changes before its implementation on August 1.District officials said people can submit their feedback at the offices of registrars, sub-divisional magistrates and tehsildars.S K Singh, assistant commissioner (stamp and registration), Noida, said the real estate sector has been in a period of recession for some time now.“The administration has not increased circle rates for the benefit of the people,” he said. However, circle rates might be hiked in Jewar, as the government has approved the construction of an airport in the area.Residents and developers welcomed the move, saying that circle rates of properties in certain sectors are already higher than the market rate, and any increase would have a negative impact.

Source- ET Realty