A section of homebuyers in Bengaluru has shot off a letter to the chief justice of India, requesting an intervention and providing some relief to people who have been left homeless as a result of delays in completion of various housing projects.
“From homebuyers perspective, we wanted to tell the SC (Supreme Court) about the issues directly coming from home buyers,” Dhananjaya Padmanabhachar, sanchalak of Karnataka Home Buyers Forum, told HT.
The association, representing home buyers in several projects across India’s IT capital, said the letter was to get some attention from the nation’s highest court that was currently looking into matters like the Real Estate Regulation and Development (RERA) Act, 2016.
The letter stated that the SC should look into homebuyers’ agreement and must compulsorily mention about the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) approved for the project.
“There must be clause in home buyers agreement where the total cost of the flat must be registered and mentioned in the agreement there by avoiding under valuation registration There must be clear clauses in home buyer agreements on transfer of undivided share of interest (UDS/UDI) in through conveyance within a specified timeline so that home buyers rights will be protected over the project title. There must be clear clauses in home buyer agreements on formation of registered association of owners under relevant act to ensure the promoter gets legal binding on registering the apartment association of owners,” stated the letter.
There are thousands of home buyers in Bengaluru who have paid almost 90% of the cost of the home but have been waiting for years to get possession as builders take their own time to complete the projects.
Builders like Sushil Mantri have been arrested and then let off by the enforcement directorate as well as the state criminal investigation department over charges of funneling money away from these projects.
The forum had also complained to the ED on June 17, alleging that the Bengaluru-based builder was trying to launder money through the UDS (undivided share of land) scam and concealment, Doddakallasandra on Kanakapura Road in the city.
According to Anarock property consultants, at the end of December 2021, there were approximately 5.17 lakh units (launched in 2014 or before) were stuck in various stages of completions in the top seven cities of the country which has since come down to 4.88 lakh units by the end of May 2022.
The total value of stalled housing projects is around ₹4.48 lakh crore.
