It is not that I don’t know about it; I don’t care about it. I have rather consciously developed this image over the years. I am never ashamed or apologetic about my identity or public perception. I very much enjoy the fact that not so professionals within the built environment, fellow corrupt journalists, shady builders and most stupid breed of PR and Corporate Communication specialists (sic) maintain a safe distance with a rude journalist like me.
Known for fresh water lakes of Himayath Sagar and Osman Sagar, Rajendra Nagar for long had been known for the Shamshabad Airport and the Mrugavani National Park. But today the area is also famous for some of the quality educational institutions, like Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) and Andhra Pradesh Prohibition and Excise Academy. There are also many international schools in the area.
The attraction for North Bangalore has been so profound for this location that most of the properties launched in recent times have been in North Bangalore only. It has definitely started overshadowing other hot property destinations like Outer Ring Road, Sarjapur and Whitefield.
So, you have been blaming the builder for end-to-end problems that you have encountered before and after settling in your dream home. Cost of apartment, delay in delivery, mismatch in promises & performance, costly maintenance and poor facility management, the list goes endless. More often than not, the grievances are legitimate.
I feel it is my professional and social obligation to raise some issues and point to the grey zones to help other gullible homebuyers who might be having trust left with this association. Many others have already lost trust after finding hidden motives and bullying tactics of the core team after their clarion call to fight for the rights of homebuyers. Many of them even allege this buyer association to be proxy of the builders and taking brief from them.
The journalists covering real estate news are always on the lookout for the grey areas and these buyers’ associations feed them. In exchange, they are always in the news and that lends them credibility in the given market.
Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited (MLDL) has launched ‘Happinest – Palghar’ – the first affordable housing project to be undertaken by a joint platform between the Company and HDFC Capital Affordable Real Estate Fund-1 (‘HDFC Capital’), a fund managed by HDFC Capital Advisors Ltd.
Track2Realty has been the first to put on record the fact that the brand trust of Tata Housing is falling in the wake of mounting consumer grievances.
I am also conscious of the fact that a large number of developers are hoping against the hope that once the tide is over and investors return to the market their ordeal would be over. I may sound to be disappointing gentlemen but the era of investor driven real estate business is over.
The homebuyers’ acting as de facto consumer courts raises a fundamental question as to whether any of these buyers’ associations have any legal right to intervene suo motto and address the grievances of the buyers. The legal opinion is pretty clear on this.