Amit is a voracious writer and reader with experience in developing content for different niches. A friendly and down-to-earth person with a sense of humor, he is keen on offering factual and informative insights in his writings. He loves researching new developments in the industry and putting them in layman’s terms.
GURUGRAM: The Hon’ble Chairman KK Khandelwal of Haryana wanted to give homebuyers a break, so over the course of five years, the Haryana RERA was able to deliver 250,000 flats in Gurugram.
Prioritizing citizen needs, such as helping first-time homebuyers and fostering economic expansion in the real estate industry, is crucial for government officials and authorities. Maintaining transparency and accountability in their work, as well as making sure that all decisions are made with the general public’s best interests in mind, will be crucial for the H-Rera Gurugram authority.
The speaker claims that the delayed possession cases in 4,115 cases have been resolved by the RERA court, earning complainants Rs 3,500 crore from defaulting developers. Additionally, 2,246 refund-related cases were resolved, and complainants in those cases received Rs 2,500 crore from developers. The amount recovered was unprecedented in the pre-RERA era.
According to Khandelwal, developers are currently adhere to the rules and that RERA is directly responsible for overseeing more than 3.5 lakh units across numerous projects. He added that developers had already handed over more than 2.54 lakh units to allottees, which he regarded as a significant accomplishment. I think it’s encouraging that Haryana’s real estate industry is putting a lot of effort into making improvements, and I hope that this development will continue.
On Wednesday, officials said that the civic authorities have carried out 71 demolition drives against “unauthorized properties” in South Delhi this year. Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) also carried out 41 sealing actions.
MCD’s South Zone said in a statement that the demolition and sealing drive is being conducted against “unauthorized constructions” in different areas of Delhi.
As per the statement, 71 demolition and 41 sealing actions have been taken against unauthorizedly constructed properties in Said-ul-Azaib, Khirki Extension, Panchsheel Vihar, Chhattarpur, Freedom Fighter Enclave, Panchsheel Vihar, Greater Kailash-1, Greater Kailash-2, Neb Sarai, Malviya Nagar, Mehrauli, etc. this year.
According to the statement, the South Zone Building Department’s field staff has been exclusively focused on taking demolition and sealing action against unauthorized construction, adding that the areas were regularly inspected and unauthorized construction by unscrupulous builders was identified.
The public was duped into purchasing cheaper apartments with more ground coverage by these dishonest builders, who engaged in unauthorized construction in flagrant violation of numerous laws.
MCD said in the statement that the department has taken massive demolition actions with a view to discouraging unauthorized construction activities by unscrupulous builders.
Despite the fact that the drive was successful, local residents had attempted to create a commotion and stymie the demolition crew on several occasions, according to MCD. The MCD said it will further intensify the demolition drive.
The drive is intended to bring construction to properties within the parameters of the Master Plan 2021 and the Unified Building Bye-Laws 2016, which contain the notified regulations applicable to construction activities in the Capital, according to the statement.
MCD said that these demolition and sealing actions will warn unscrupulous builders to abide by the provisions of the DMC Act of 1957, the Master Plan-2021, and the Unified Building Bye-Laws-2016. The department will keep persevering in taking such punitive actions with the sole motive of bringing the construction activities within the ambit of the aforesaid statutes.
The ED had attached the properties in July 2019, including Gateway Towers and Gurugram’s Business Bay after company directors Atul and Sonal Bansal, who are a couple, were declared proclaimed offenders.
The investors and allottees of two projects linked to the Manesar land scam accused company Aditya Buildwell (ABW) Infrastructure have approached to have their properties detached at the special CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) court in Panchkula.
These properties were seized by the ED as part of a Chandigarh money laundering investigation that was connected to a Central Bureau of Investigation case from September 2015 in which politicians and builders were accused of engaging in a Rs 1,500 crore land acquisition scam. The private developers allegedly conspired with some Haryana officials to purchase 400 acres in Gurugram villages for a low price.
The special ED court summoned five more suspects in January. Special judge Sudhir Parmar scheduled the next hearing on the petitions of Business Bay Allottees Welfare Association and Gateway Tower Allottees Welfare Association for February 28 while requesting that the ED submit its response. Dr. Deipa Singh, who is the representative of these two associations of the allottees, claimed that the investors or allottees were primarily senior citizens who had put their entire lifetime’s worth of savings into ABW’s projects.
The properties were attached by the ED in July 2019 after company directors Atul and Sonal Bansal, who are a couple, were declared proclaimed offenders. The attached projects included Gateway Towers and Gurugram’s Business Bay. While Sonal Bansal was taken into custody in Mumbai during the final week of January, Atul Bansal remains untraced.
People had also invested in Dove Infrastructure, Seriatim Land & Housing, and other ABW group companies. More than 35 people have been charged in the case, including bureaucrats, politicians, and builders who made millions of rupees by carving out residential, commercial, and institutional colonies from Manesar village land.
MUMBAI: A case that Ekta Housing filed against its partner builder, Pashmina Realty, alleging fraud and money laundering, has been closed by the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) and Powai police.
Together, Pashmina and Ekta worked on the Powai project known as “Lake River”. Chairman of Ekta Housing, Ashok Mohanani, lodged an FIR against Pashmina Realty and its directors Rajendra Singh, Kishore Koticha, Amit Jha, Preet Koticha, and Rajesh Turakhia for inducing him to redevelop the prime property by presenting a rosy picture.
Mohanani claimed they took advantage of his firm’s expertise to extract large sums of money before terminating their agreement at the halfway point, costing them a staggering Rs 165 crore.
As directed by the Metropolitan magistrate court, the Juhu police lodged an FIR of cheating, forgery, and breach of trust, and 120 B of criminal conspiracy.
Mohanani had submitted a personal grievance to the court. A second complaint was made against Pashmina by Ekta Housing to the Powai Police Station. Both EOW and Powai Police then completed their investigations, and on November 23, 2022, and December 16, 2022, respectively, both gave Pashmina a clean chit by submitting a thorough closure report.
The closure report by Pashmina Realty states that it had tried to have a solution and conducted 7 to 8 meetings with the team of Ekta Housing. The solicitors of Ekta Housing and solicitors of Pashmina Realty were present at the offices of solicitors of Ekta Housing during each meeting.
It is not proven that the accused has unilaterally, incorrectly given reasons for terminating the agreement, as the information about the meeting had been given directly by email. Its closure further report states that the transactions between the complainant and accused are of civil nature and there is no evidence of any criminal nature.
The budget decision to cap the deduction from capital gains on investment in residential property under Sections 54 and 54F at Rs 10 crore is likely to have an impact on demand for super luxury real estate.
Sections 54 and 54F of the Income Tax Act of 1961 apply to long-term capital gains (LTCG) from the sale of capital assets such as homes, equity, bonds, and gold, as well as their reinvestment in residential property.
Deloitte India partner, Hemal Mehta said that the set-off of capital gains arising on the sale of residential units or the sale of any other long-term asset–other than a residential unit–by way of investment in another residential unit is proposed to be capped at Rs 10 crore, which earlier did not have any such cap. This proposal will certainly impact HNIs’ high-value transactions.
Several recent luxury property transactions involving industrialists and startup entrepreneurs can be classified as LTCG-saving transactions.
Tax experts said that the decision will probably impact redevelopment projects in high-value real estate markets such as south Mumbai and a few localities in Delhi. However, realty developers didn’t agree.
According to Mitil Chokshi, partner at Chokshi & Chokshi, LLP, while there has been an abundance of redevelopment projects, particularly of older buildings in prime areas such as south Mumbai, any such assignment of the immovable asset to the builder would be considered a transfer under tax regulations.
Chokshi said, “In such a case, even though the reckoner value exceeded Rs 10 crore, there was generally nil tax by claiming deduction under Section 54, which now will result in significant taxation for individual home sellers under redevelopment.”
Despite the 10% allowance, most ready reckoner values in cities like Mumbai and Delhi are not aligned with current market prices and reflect much higher values than actual transaction values.
Some experts said that the luxury property market could witness deals in the next two months before the limit is implemented on April 1.
Noida: Police arrested a gang of four persons on Wednesday, who cheated around 7 lakhs from people by posting fake ads for properties on popular housing websites. The gang has cheated around 9 people since January 12.
The accused are Anil Chauhan, a resident of Gautam Buddh Nagar, and Amitesh Mishra, Mrityunjay Chaubey, Pushpendra, natives of Bihar and Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh. Police have recovered one ATM card, seven Aadhar cards, one passbook, and Rs 4.20 lakh in cash from them.
“A senior police officer said that the accused were living in rented accommodations in various parts of Noida.”
Additional deputy commissioner of Noida police, Ashutosh Dwivedi, said that the gang was posting fake ads for properties on popular housing websites.
On January 30, a Noida resident alleged that he was cheated of Rs 79,000. The complainant was looking for a property on rent online and got in touch with the accused through a contact number. They showed him a flat in Sector 46 and completed all formalities, and asked him to pay an advance brokerage of Rs 79,000. On moving into the property, he found out that the flat belonged to someone else.
Under sections of cheating and forgery of the IPC, an FIR was registered.
The ADCP added that during interrogation, police found that the accused posed as fake owners of flats/commercial properties. When a customer searched for a property, a message was sent from the gang’s mobile number. One of the gang members would then contact the customer and share property details. They would fix the time and ask the customer to visit the location.
They would ask for RO transfer of Rs 2,000 as an agreement after fixing the time and property visit.
the officer added that they would provide the customer with a fake copy of the agreement and ask them to transfer three to six months’ advance payment. They would distribute the money among the gang. They have duped nine people of over Rs 7 lakh since January 12. This information was revealed from just one bank account. The details of other bank accounts are also being checked.
The suspects were summoned to court and sent to judicial custody on Wednesday.
New Delhi: India’s residential real estate sector is anticipated to gain progressive momentum in Budget 2023-24 to boost the country’s weakened affordable housing segment. Government roll-out incentives in 2015
Following the government’s 2015 launch of incentives, the market recovered and gained “respect” among both consumers and developers. However, the pandemic had a significant negative impact on the market for affordable housing, with both demand and supply declining to historic lows.
A survey by ANAROCK Property Consultants, reveals that demands for affordable housing decreased negatively. On average, 39 percent of property seekers in the top 7 Indian cities were eager for affordable homes priced within Rs 40 lakh. The demand fell to the lowest in the last year, with just 26 percent of property buyers showing their interest to purchase in this budget segment.
There are a number of unsold stocks throughout the top 7 cities. By the end of 2022, there were 6.30 lakh unsold units in the top 7 cities, and more than 27% of those were for affordable housing. Since the pandemic, demand for this market has remained low, so the government must prioritize revitalizing it. The upcoming budget offers a chance to do this.
What can the Budget 2023 do?
Anuj Puri, Chairman – of ANAROCK Group, says that one potential way the Budget can intervene is by revising the price bandwidths for homes that qualify as affordable housing, in accordance with the unique market dynamics of various cities. “At the present time, units with a carpet area of 60 square meters qualify for various affordable housing benefits. While this is appropriate, the uniform price range for affordable housing of up to INR 45 lakh is out of step with the realities of the market in the majority of major cities.
Rs 45 lakh or below is significantly low in a city like Mumbai, where it should be increased to INR 85 lakh or more. The price range should be raised to INR 60-65 lakh in other major cities. This would increase the number of properties that qualify as affordable housing, allowing a greater number of homebuyers to benefit from government subsidies such as reduced GST at 1% without ITC.
“More tax sops for housing end-users and investors for affordable housing would also boost demand, the current tax rebate of INR 2 lakh on housing loan interest under Section 24 of the Income Tax Act must be increased to at least INR 5 lakh. This will add momentum to housing demand, particularly in the cost-sensitive affordable segment”, says Puri.
Budget 2023-24 can also boost the government’s affordable rental housing scheme which was launched post the pandemic. The lower income groups were facing severe restrictions as a result of Covid-19, and many of them abandoned their plans to purchase homes entirely. The government can use the budget to reward ARHCs (Affordable Rental Housing Complexes), which can fill the gap until lower income groups’ capacity to purchase homes improves, to give its Housing for All vision more momentum.
With a view to developing ARHCs on developer-owned vacant land for 25 years, the government had rolled out incentives such as use permission, 50% additional FAR/FSI, concessional loan at priority sector lending rate, and tax reliefs at par with affordable housing in order to entice private participation in this initiative. However, the low yields of affordable rental housing were a major deterrent. Despite the fact that funding for such projects will be offered at reduced rates, the majority of players believe that developing ARHCs on already scarce land acquired at high prices in the major cities is not feasible. In order to finally start building Affordable Rental Housing Complexes across the nation, there is a chance to introduce more deal-sweetening measures in the budget.
To unlock government land parcels for commercial and industrial use, the Bengal government might modify the provisions of a 68-year-old law, the West Bengal Land Reforms Act 1955.
It is likely to introduce a bill in the state assembly in the budget session. Since the land for commercial use has already been available for a 99-year lease, this bill is intended to generate income for the state exchequer.
The state cabinet approved it on January 11, and as per the report, the bill will be introduced in the assembly to make this decision official.
According to a minister, the state government will introduce an amendment to the assembly that will allow land parcels to be offered to commercial buildings for lifetime possession rather than the previous standard of a 99 year lease. Therefore, many industries would prefer to purchase land plots rather than leaseholds, and as a result, the state exchequer is anticipated to benefit.
However, this shift from leasehold to freehold represents a significant policy change for the Trinamool government, as it was decided in 2012 that businesses would be provided with land plots on a 99-year lease. However, the proposed bill will now allow the industry access to public land. According to officials, numerous land parcels in Kolkata will also be made available to industries. Thus, all land will be available for freehold, with the exception of khas land, which is used for private farming, and bargadari land. Following the cabinet decision on January 11, the move had been well-received by the industry and had made land available from leasehold to freehold rights, as per the reports.
Officials are mulling amending Section 3A of the 1955 Act, which deals with the “right of the non-agricultural tenants and under-tenants in non-agricultural lands to vest in the state.” The state will also need to change and add new provisions to the 1955 Act, which deals with the amount of money to be paid for the land. Up until now, to get a land lease, 95% of the market price of the land had to be paid in advance, and 0.4% of the land price had to be paid annually. Now an additional 10% of the land price has to be paid to get freehold rights. Thus, sources pointed out, changes need to be brought about in the old law.
However, the Bengal government made an exception to its policy of 2012 in 2017, when it gave 50 acres of land freehold to Infosys on the condition that the company would use 51% of the pot for IT and ITeS services.
In September 2022, the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) invited applications for the freehold transfer of a 10-acre government plot at Tagore Park for residential and commercial use. But all these were done on a case-to-case basis without a general policy guideline.
Investors show interest in freehold land because of its bankability. The government, on the other hand, can mop up more revenue if it gives land freehold instead of giving it on lease.
The fact came to light that there was a huge response from the investors while HIDCO fixed the start bid price at Rs 177.3 crore during the e-bidding of the HIDCO plot in September.
Gurugram: As per the report submitted by the four agencies to the district administration, the basement of most of the project has seepage and flooding issues apart from falling concrete, corrosion of steel, etc.
The district administration has decided that the structural defects in the 15 highrise buildings that were recently audited by the agencies will be repaired by the developers. While the maintenance related issues will be addressed by the concerned Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs).
Deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav told TOI that they will meet with developers and RWAs within a week to assign repair work to fix structural defects in these 15 societies, as claimed by several residents.
Four agencies submitted the structural audit report to the district administration, revealing that most of the projects have seepage and flooding in the basements, apart from falling concrete, corrosion of steel, and other issues.
According to the audit report, the basements of all the high rise projects require urgent testing, as it is the major problem area and a cause of concern for the residents of these buildings.
However, the agencies said that the defects are repairable. Due to the unavailability of structural drawings of the project, the structural audit of Raheja Atharva could not be carried out.
The future course of action, which includes secondary testing as recommended by the structural audit agencies in their report, will also be discussed in the meeting with the developers and RWAs.
The first phase of the audit covered 15 residential societies, and the second phase will cover about 50 residential societies where residents have raised concerns about construction-related issues.
The district administration had hired agencies—Bureau Vertias, TPC Technical Projects Consultants, Vintech Consultants, and NNC Design International, to carry out a rapid visual inspection of around 200 towers in 16 residential societies.
Technology is progressively strengthening every aspect of human behavior and with improving momentous, its role is increasing in the real estate sector. Tech has helped evolve various industries and sectors. The latest technologies have always shaped how different industries evolve, and every industry is adopting this change. The intersection of technology has helped create an impression on revenues in the longer run.
Almost every player in the real estate sector including landlords, tenants, investors, brokers, letting agents, etc., has seen innovation due to the proptech disruption.
Proptech Landscape: What Technology Types Are There and Where Are They Applied
Did you know that more than 9000 proptech companies have popped up across the globe over the last decade? Yes, 9000. And most of these startups are“self-categorize,” making it unclear in which category they fall, either for marketing purposes or because they lack a comprehensive understanding of the market.
The new property technology has been categorized by many real estate leaders, although the precise parameters of proptech space may vary due to different proptech definitions and the varied types of real estate markets.
Proptech as the intersection of Fintech, Contech, Smart Real Estate, and Shared Economy
Fintech (financial technology) – This brings technology into the financial sector and allows customers and businesses to access financial services with ease. Real Estate Fintech focuses on facilitating financial processes in Real Estate.
Contech (construction technology) – This revolutionary technology is used for all the construction work done within the construction industry with modern materials and sustainable approaches in the building process such as AR/VR, wearable technology, etc., which are easy to use.
Smart Real Estate (aka Smart Home) – This term refers to a set of IoT-driven smart real estate solutions. The use of internet-connected devices and appliances, which are collectively known as the Internet of Things (IoT), for remote monitoring and management of the house. Smart kitchen appliances developed by Siemens or intelligent lighting systems produced by Philips are some of the obvious examples of solutions in this proptech subsector.
Shared Economy Real Estate – This is any proptech platform that offers shared and/or joint use of a property. AirBnB and WeWork are the most famous Proptech companies driving the sector of the shared economy.
This is a traditional and very general way to is been classify the proptech landscape that outlines its basic elements and relationships. It is a helpful explanation of proptech and how it links with other industries.
Here are the 6 Technology Trends in Real Estate shaping the future of Proptech:
The process involves collecting and analyzing real-time and historical data about all kinds of assets including residential households to complex corporate facilities and telecommunications. Real estate companies and individual Proptech realtors can come up with accurate insights on pricing, home-value trends, and even potential risks and failure with structured data sets.
2. AI and Machine Learning for automation of back-office processes
Big data in real estate is about structuring large amounts of data, AI and machine learning make it more useful. AI will work from powerful search prediction functionality to autogenerate customized emails for customers based on their life events.
3. Virtual Reality for a better online search & home-buying experience
According to a report, with an estimated 1.4 million realtors relying on the technology by that time, Virtual Reality will be at the top of Proptech making it the most disruptive by 2025. This number makes up the bulk of the total professionals in this area today.
The uses of VR in Real Estate may vary, from virtual tours of homes to augmented reality tools for adding furniture to the existing interior.
4. Internet of Things (IoT) for predictive maintenance
The Internet of Things (IoT) describes a “smart” network of devices and sensors that continuously monitor information about a building to track its general condition and predict breakdowns. For example, mobile devices and computers are used by property owners to monitor a building’s temperature, security, and maintenance.
5. New construction technologies that drive sustainability
Modern appliances are advancing and getting smarter, as we adopt new methods of green construction, focused on building sustainable, and energy-efficient homes. Appliances like SmartGrid refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, and micro ovens have occupied the central space in our homes, and there is still a lot more in the way.
6. Chatbots for better customer experience
AI made chatbots possible, which have become a significant feature for almost every website. Chatbots can benefit your business in a number of ways, including providing detailed, actionable insights into your customers’ most significant pain points, reduction of manual work, and improving customer satisfaction.
What has positively changed for investors :
Accurate planning of construction to reduce chances of critical breakdowns or failure to meet a deadline, which may lead to loss of millions.
Improved market research to monitor development, investment, leasing, buying, and selling opportunities.
Secure contracts without a “middle man” who might have conflicting interests in the property during the purchase and sale process.
