Make second-hand home deals easy to execute: MBRRB chief

To legalise the ownership rights of second-hand homes sold and purchased in transactions over a period of time, the Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board (MBRRB) Chairman Vinod Ghosalkar wants the government to forgo the unpaid stamp duty fees due from the previous owner. MBRRB is an undertaking of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).

Speaking to FPJ, Ghosalkar explained that for example, if a particular house is purchased by four different parties, there are cases where it has been found that when the present buyer approaches MHADA for the ownership rights, it comes to his/her notice that the previous owners had not paid the stamp duty. Besides this, in many cases, the previous owner of the said property is found to be dead or shifted outside the city or state. In such cases, the new buyer finds it difficult to get the property in his name.

“To avoid the cumbersome procedure, I believe that the government needs to forgo the previous stamp duty fees and allow the last buyer of the property to legally get the ownership rights by making a one-time stamp duty payment,” he said.

Ghosalkar wants the government to introduce easy buying and selling of houses related to MHADA to prevent red tapism and ensure more transparency in real estate transactions. Moreover, he wants the provision to be made under the government’s Abhay scheme and has already written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to take a policy decision in the issue. Ghosalkar believes that a one-time stamp duty fee implementation will provide a big relief to the secondhand homebuyers who invested in MHADA-owned properties, that include buying of MHADA lottery houses, houses in a redeveloped building etc.