Undeterred by stiff opposition from private developers and builders, the Union housing ministry is pushing hard to bring the real estate regulator bill — aiming to protect homebuyers — in the current session of Parliament.

Housing minister said on Sunday that the bill was expected to be soon brought up before the Cabinet for its consideration before being introduced in Parliament.

The government is looking to set up a tough regulator for the realty sector. The bill is expected to have provisions of even jail terms for developers if they put out misleading advertisements about projects.

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Bill to be introduced soon aims to protect homebuyers by setting up tough regulator Provisions of even jail terms for developers for putting out misleading ads Regulator to ensure every project is registered and has all required clearances

Bill: No housing ad before plan nod

It will be interesting to see if the legislation, which has been pending since 2009, becomes a reality before the 2014 general elections.

The consumer-friendly law was again returned from the Cabinet after objections were raised by some ministers. The legislation will clearly define ‘carpet area’, and private developers will not be allowed to sell houses or flats on the basis of ambiguous ‘super area’ .

A real estate regulator in every state will ensure that private developers get all projects registered before sale of property and after getting all necessary clearances — addressing a major concern of buyers about incomplete or fraudulent land acquisition and pending clearances.

The bill has proposed builders would not advertise or start a housing project before getting all necessary clearances and reporting before a real estate regulator.

The developers cannot collect any money from buyers before completing all necessary permits to start construction on the project.

The minister said builders wouldn’t be allowed to use pictures of housing projects in foreign countries to lure buyers while advertising a project . They will have to use pictures reflecting the actual project which will be delivered to homebuyers.

Source: The Economic Times, Delhi/NCR


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