New realty rules, no regulator
POWER TO BUYERS Real Estate Act came into force on May 1 to protect homebuyers from unscrupulous developers
Real Estate (regulation and development) Act, 2016, touted to safeguard interest of homebuyers, came into force in the state, including Noida and Greater Noida on Monday.
Developers, homebuyers as well as officials, however, continued to remain sceptical about the implementation and efficacy of the act, as a Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) had not yet been put in place.
The Uttar Pradesh government has not constituted a RERA and appointment of staff is yet to start. The Centre had set May 1, 2017 as the deadline for RERA to be set up in various states.
As per the act, a developer cannot sell property in realty project without RERA registration .
“The act has come into force but there is no RERA. So, where will we register our projects. Nobody in the Noida authority or state government has told us how to proceed,” said a develope.
In Noida, 86 group housing projects have been delayed by three to four years due to a slowdown in the realty sector, affecting around one lakh buyers who had invested in projects that were to be delivered by 2012. In Greater Noida, around 3.5 lakh homebuyers are yet to get possession of flats that were to be delivered to them from 2012.
As per the act, ongoing unfinished realty projects will have to be registered with RERA.
“The UP government should look into the issue and constitute a RERA at the earliest. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath should recruit the required staff without delay, else the act will mean nothing to us because it will not make any difference,” said SK Nagrath, president of Jaypee Aman Flat Buyers Association.
Many developers claimed that their projects were already governed by RERA rules.
“We have already imposed regulation on our realty projects as suggested by RERA rules. We have delivered our projects on time and would continue to do so. We will register our under-construction projects with RERA once the body is formed,” said RK Arora, chairman-cum-managing director of Supertech Group.
The Noida authority said it will not allow new project to start till RERA rules are executed.