While purchasing a property, buyers often complained of unfair practices by the builders. Eventually, the government realised the need for a robust regulatory body to govern the real estate market and ensure equitable rights and responsibilities to buyers and sellers. With that thought in mind, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority came into the picture.
As a homeowner or potential home buyer, it would be useful to know about this act. Read on to know more about RERA and its benefits.
What Is RERA?
RERA, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority was formed on 1st May 2016 under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. It aims at streamlining the real estate market and bringing transparency in the transactions between buyers and sellers. Also, it intends to curb the malpractices followed by builders and promoters during the sale of properties.
Benefits of RERA for Buyers
RERA seeks to transform the real estate market and provide benefits to the buyers in the following ways:
- Controlling delay in project completion
Often the projects are stalled for years, delaying the possession date for the buyers. As per RERA, if there is any delay in the project completion, the promoter/builder will have to return the advance amount and any other charges paid by the buyer towards the property purchase. However, if the buyer does not want to withdraw the money, the promoter will have to pay the interest mentioned in the sale agreement for the delayed period.
- Grievances redressal
RERA requires every state and union territory to set up a separate state RERA for governance and management. It also required relevant authorities to establish a Real Estate Appellate Tribunal for grievance redressal. In this appellate tribunal, the buyers can submit their complaints about redressal.
- Greater regulation and compliance
Every builder is required to be registered under the RERA. Without registration, they cannot sell books or advertise projects. Once they are registered, they need to provide all the details about the project on the RERA website for buyers to know. Also, if builders fail to register their project, they could have to pay 10% of the project value as a penalty.
- Definite carpet area
The act lays down a definite carpet area that the builder will have to follow. The buyer has the right to ensure that the house possession is delivered to them for the same carpet area as promised during the booking.
- Assured quality of construction material
The builder has to ensure that the material used in the project construction is of high quality and as per the standards. If there were any damage to the property within a stipulated period, the promoter and builder would have to repair the damage at their expense.
With RERA, the buyers can be assured that the real estate market would be more structured and organised, reducing troubles for them. The welcoming change brought by RERA can be considered as ease in purchasing houses. So what are you waiting for? Compare lenders to get the lowest house loan interest rate and apply for home loan today.