When G.Ramkumar moved from Bengaluru to Chennai in 2007, the first investment he made was on a house. He invested in a project that offered villas at Rs. 1,800 per square foot near Porur in the city’s west.
Nearly 10 years later, all that he owns is a small patch of land as the project ran into rough weather due to various reasons. Though he owns the plot, the promoter is now asking him to pay an additional Rs. 6,000 per sq. ft to complete the villa, which Mr. Ramkumar suspects, will take at least a few more years.
Investors hope the recent Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act will address their concerns. There are thousands of families in the city who are paying the Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI) for loans they took for booking their dream homes – properties that are yet to be handed over to them.
Most of these families currently live in rented homes, resulting in double the expenditure, causing a severe strain on their limited incomes. While experts point out that the Act is loaded heavily in favour of home-buyers, there are some like Mr. Ramkumar who feel that the housing industry in Chennai is yet to become “RERA compliant.”
Ratna Mishra, president of Moulivakkam Trust Heights Affected Flat Buyers Association, said she was glad that an effort has been made to protect the interests of investors, but regretted that even the Act could not come to the help of families who lost their homes in the crash of the multi-storey apartment under construction in Moulivakkam in June 2014.
Consultants say there are a number of complaints pending in consumer courts against builders who have not handed over projects. Many more affected families prefer to not complain or are unaware of the grievance mechanisms available.
While there was an initiative in Bengaluru to bring together, the State government, the building industry and investors to speak about the Act, there has been no such effort in Chennai, industry experts say.
Office-bearers of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India said an exercise is on to train all people involved in the building industry to make them ready to meet the new challenges when the Real Estate Regulatory Authority will be established next year.
Officials in the Department of Housing and Urban Development said the government has already taken the initiative to start a dialogue with stakeholders in the housing industry.
