“Central database will benefit real estate"

 

Satish Nandgaonkar

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday agreed to create a central database of all State RERA authorities which could bring greater transparency to the real estate sector and benefit all stakeholders.

Puri was speaking after the online release of “Efficacy of RERA From the Consumer Perspective 2020” prepared by Moneylife Foundation and HDFC Ltd in the presence of Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC and Gautam Chatterjee, Chairman of Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA)

Creation of such a national database is one of the 20 recommendations made in the report. Responding to a comment by Debashis Basu, founder trustee of Moneylife Foundation underlining the importance of centralized data, Puri immediately approved the idea. “Data will be more valuable than gold. Let us have a central database, which will have all the constitutional segments, including the states. Let us have all the stakeholder access to the database because the maximum transparency that you can introduce, you will find that the sector begins to benefit from that free flow of information,” he said.

Puri also pointed out that the Modi government carried out key amendments to the 2013 RERA draft while passing the act which brought historic changes to the real estate sector. The Real Estate (Regulation and development) Act came into effect from May 1, 2017, bringing ongoing real estate projects under the monitoring of the state RERA authority. Barring West Bengal, RERA has been adopted by 34 states and union territories.

 

According to the Minister, the history of real estate sector will be divided as pre-

RERA and post-RERA period. “The Report prepared by Moneylife Foundation and

HDFC makes very important recommendations, ranging from definitional issues

to reconciliation between provisions. The Report also highlights how orders

passed by regulatory authorities are not being implemented in some cases. I

assure you that we will have it all thoroughly examined and take corrective

measures as deemed necessary,” he said.

 

Improving execution process of RERA orders, better enforcement of model sale agreement, inclusion of rehabilitation component of redevelopment projects and old tenants pagdi buildings under RERA, inclusion of RERA perspective in Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code process, removing ambiguity in RERA carpet area definitions, formation of Association of Allottees in every registered project are some of the important recommendations made in the report.

 

HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh said the record property sales registrations in December as a result of a stamp duty cut did not reflect “pent-up” demand, but genuine aspirations of home buyers to own a home. He said the next thrust in the

real estate sector will be on rental housing. “The minister (Mr Puri) had already charted out plans, now it is up to all stake holders how we can make rental housing popular,” he said, adding, “With construction-led recovery, I feel India will build and India will grow.

 

MahaRERA chairperson Gautam Chatterjee said the quantum jump in sale registrations also resulted in a spurt in registration of new projects with the authority. He said around 1,200 new ongoing projects were registered with MahaRERA in the past quarter.

 

He said 27,700 ongoing housing projects were registered with MahaRERA and 20,000 real estate agents. He said 13,000 complaints were received by MahaRERA since May 1, 2017, and 8,900 orders were issued. He said 94 per cent of these complaints were of pre-RERA projects,  and only 50 per cent of these projects have been completed. “We thought three years would be adequate to deal with legacy of pre-RERA projects, but clearly it is not. These projects need to be completed,” said Chatterjee, who will complete his term this month. He said the recommendations made in the report were also raised at the all India conference of RERA authorities held in Lucknow, and it is for the government to act on the recommendations.

 

The report said over 60,000 housing projects and 45,723 agents were registered with all RERA authorities. These regulatory bodies disposed off 60,000 complaints.