Track2Realty view on project delays The lack of regulations is…
Gaurav Kapoor booked a flat in one of the newly launched projects of Delhi-NCR in early 2007. He was promised the flat would be ready for possession within three years with a grace period of six months. To play safe Gaurav even opted for a construction linked payment plan to the developer but six years have gone and he is yet to get his flat and every time he has approached the developer, various reasons for delay have been cited from macro economic conditions to funding woes and approval delays on part of the government agencies.
One-sided builder-buyer contract, late delivery of the possession and poor quality of construction is an accepted reality in the Indian real estate. A prominent developer in Noida Extension is reportedly forcing its buyers to sign the modified apartment buyer contracts with extended possession date and reduced penalty for delay in handing over the apartments. “Otherwise, we are ready and willing to refund the entire booking amount along with 11 per cent interest, without any deductions,” says the forwarding of the letter sent to the buyers.
Weekend homes, also called second homes or vacation homes, are currently an oasis of market activity in India’s the otherwise lacklustre residential real estate sector. In earlier years, only the affluent could and would invest in them – today, these properties are generating interest even from the country’s middle class.
The Indian subcontinent has always been prone to earthquakes. However, it is only the recent earthquakes in Nepal which have made home owners and prospective buyers wonder about the earthquake resistance factor in Indian real estate. Two quakes, a week apart, ripped the beautiful mountainous country to debris and several Indian states and cities felt the impact, as well. In some places, there were even incidents of damage to old structures and ill-planned buildings.
A National Green Tribunal (NGT) order in 2013 and yet another recent one have collectively had a greater negative impact on home buyers in the National Capital Region (NCR) than on the developer community. While home buyers were caught unawares and continue to remain jittery with the resultant delay in possessing their dream homes, these two NGT orders reveal the apathy authorities and developers have towards buyers.
How satisfied are you with the property you’ve bought? There are both satisfied and unsatisfied home owners at large. Sometimes a purchase is made without proper planning and thought – the result is regret.
Track2Realty: A decade ago, an Indian woman independent and capable enough to buy her own home was a rare case. However, things have changed today. Latter-day Indian women are very well educated, have good jobs with excellent career growth prospects, and even hold important government or corporate leadership posts.
Track2Realty: Reams of newsprint have been dedicated to discussing the sufferings of consumers in the Indian real estate sector. Particularly, homebuyers’ woes related to late delivery of projects, deviation of housing projects from promised quality, additional payments due to change in apartment area and inadequate protection of their rights have been well-documented.
Track2Realty: Real estate buyers are often warned that they must conduct a thorough due diligence before investing in any property, and that they should not reply solely on the verification process done by banks while they are processing a home loan request. This is sound advice, especially in the current times when many buyers have found themselves in troubled waters after making property purchase decisions without doing their homework.