The Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) has welcomed Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s move to ensure sale of residential property by carpet area, and appealed to the Government to extend the norm for stamp duty and clearance of plans.
“We have already initiated steps like the self regulatory Code of Conduct for developer members envisaging sale-by-carpet area,” said Paras Gundecha, President of MCHI, the representative body of real estate industry.
“MCHI suggests to the government that carpet area should be the common measurement unit for even for levying stamp duty and while clearing building plans,” Mr. Gundecha said.
The real estate industry at state as well as national levels has been campaigning for rationalization of stamp duty across the country, and the Governments should take immediate steps in this regard, he said.
MCHI, he said, has initiated several measures, including the code of conduct and a consumer redresser forum to make the dream home buyers a happy lot. “But there is a lot more to be done by the government. For instance, if the real estate development plans are cleared quickly, we could save a lot of time and even money,” he said and called for implementing a single-window system for submissions and clearances of plans.
“Real estate reforms are not the job of any single agency. We as the developer representative body are always willing to do our bit, whereas much of it has to come from the government and civic bodies,” he said.
In this connection, Gundecha also pointed out that there are several factors that contribute to rise in property costs. The cost of inputs like steel, cement, labour, power, fuel and transport are always on the rise. Adding to this is the rising cost of funding due to the interest rate hikes, he said and called for concerted efforts by all concerned to check realty prices.
