On handing over the house to you, the builder needs to also give a `Completion Certificate’. This is issued by municipal authorities which establishes that the building complies with the approved plan. You would need this certificate for registration of your house and other government formalities.
So you have identified the house that you want to buy, got the home loan approved and now are ready to own your house. Think its smooth sailing from here onwards? Think again. Once you have completed these formalities, the next part is ensuring that the builder does not entangle you in any legal traps. There are some very important points to consider when you are about to enter into an agreement with the developer. Let’s take a look at 5 such points you need to remember and the measures you can take against them.
Point 1 – Actual price of the house
The agreement you enter in with the builder details the various costs that you will need to bear for buying the house. This would include the cost for utilities like electricity and water, parking space, various taxes and in some cases even the registration charges. However, the builder may then levy some extra charges for any of these.
Measures to take
- Check the agreement very carefully for all the charges applicable.
- If possible, get the agreement checked by a lawyer for any missing or hidden charges and get the anomalies (if any) rectified by the builder.
- If the extra charges are for alterations made to the original plan, ask the builder for the sanction letter provided by government authorities for such alterations.
Point 2 – Actual size of the house
The agreement would clearly mention the size of the house you are purchasing. However, there is a clause which states ‘…the plans, designs, and specifications are tentative and the developer reserves the right to make variations and modifications….’. Therefore, you may agree for a certain size, but the builder can give a different size.
Measures to take
- Before freezing on your choice of a builder, do some research about the builder’s past projects.
- If possible, talk with other buyers who already have got possession about problems faced by them
- Try and include a clause in the agreement stating the minimum and maximum size beyond which the builder cannot increase or decrease.
Point 3 – Carpet Area
The area of an apartment or building, not inclusive of the area of the walls is known as carpet area. This is the area in which literally a ‘carpet’ can be laid. When the area of the walls including the balcony is calculated along with the carpet area, it is known as built-up area. The built-up area along with the area under common spaces like lobby, lifts, stairs, garden and swimming pool is called super built-up area. The carpet area can be 15-30 percent less than the super built-up area. However, you will not come to know the exact size until the flat constructions is completed.
Measures to take
- Purchase the property based on the carpet area of the flat.
- Ensure that this area is mentioned in the agreement.
- Try to get a clause included which will ensure that the contract can be terminated if the builder provides a house with the carpet area less than what is mentioned in the contract.
Point 4 – Date of Possession
The agreement normally mentions a tentative date of possession. However, there have been instances where builders have delayed possession by more than a year.
Measure to take
- Check the progress of the construction personally.
- If the progress is slow and would not meet the date of possession in a timely manner, build pressure on the builder.
- Forming a society with other buyers sometimes helps a lot in getting things to speed up at the builders end.
Point 5 – Completion certificate
On handing over the house to you, the builder needs to also give a completion certificate. This is issued by municipal authorities which establishes that the building complies with the approved plan. You would need this certificate for registration of your house and other government formalities.
Measures to take
If the agreement does not mention the certificate, ensure that the agreement has a clause which states that the builder will provide the certificate while handling over the house to you.
If the builder delays a lot, forming a society with other buyers sometimes helps a lot.
Other than these five points there more points such as the quality of the construction, management of the society etc. For this you can try to add clauses to the agreement or form a society to get the builder to meet your demands. Since there is no industry regulator you can turn to for the redressal of issues, it is important that you are aware of what you want and what you are getting.
this article gives a general idea to the probable buyers on the precautions that should be taken while buying a property so that future disputes can be totally avoided. The carpet area is the area where all the confusions arise and an insight to it has been given very clearly.
Well, how to deal with delays of over 1-2 years.
The Township planner in some cases ask money to the last with interest if delayed, and has not agreed schedule , no promise of handover date.
JS
We can see so many doccuments etc etc and buy a property in India. Some day some one with some power will occupy that or sell that. Then you can do any thing. This will become civil case and to get a disclaration from a civil case will take long time.
It is becoming very difficult for an ordinary person to hold any immovable property in Tamil Nadu at least.
Buyers need not worry for actual sizes of the unit. Because, payment must be made upon square feet / square metre basis.If possible checked by an experienced engineer/ consultant.
For super built up area calculate the common area,such as entrance lobby, staircase, lift etc. & divide it by total nos. of users.It gives the share of common area.By adding it with carpet area, super built up area can be found.
Some buyers uses the concept of SUPER DUPER BUILT UP area.Its include conference rooms,seminar halls,swimming pools , machine room, D.Generator room etc. So,all this things should be clear before going to any agreement.
This is a very intereting article. I find that builders charge `Twice' in some parts of the flat/society. This is how :
When the registration is done, the owner of the flat/apartment gets undivided share of the plot on which the flats are built. Which means that all flat owners are now Owners of the land as well. This is where the builders take the flat buyers for a jolly ride, literally. Now they charge the purchaser for the parrking area as well. The area for parking lot is not a different piece of land but allocated to each flat owner from the undivided share of the land. As a result of this the gullible flat owners end paying twice for the same facility.
Some smart builders get away by saying that the money is for developing the parking lot. The money they charge is hefty going anywhere from Rs. 50 thousands to a couple of lakhs in some cases. Do such heavy charges justify the development of the parking lot? Definitely not.
It is time that the flat buyers become aware and tighten the terms with the builders to get a fair deal.
I would like to hear comments from the readers on this on what they think about the builders charging the double.
As per govt. rules, builder can not charge for parking and they have to provide parking for each flats.. who cares for govt. rules?
Even whatever is discussed is true But, builders are usually more powerful than the common people. They do not keep their word and turn back with hostility if you counter their plan.
One such example is the Sudama builders of dombivali, who developed a property in Kalyan behind Kokan Mercantile Bank in Doodhnaka. The builder showed the plan of the building on stilts and asked the buyers to pay for parking space abt Rs. 1,m 36,000/-. He even charged from everyone about Rs. 200/- psqft in black. Even this did not fill his greed. After everyone had made the payment, from the next day started building up the area of the stilts, thus earning a whopping 60 t0 70 lacs instantly. All the residentswere black-mailed. They protested. They had a meeting of all the residents but all in vain. He claimed he has permission of the Kalyan City Corporation. My friend went through a lot of trauma for nat getting the parking space and other benefits as were promised. I only consoled him that he got what was fated for him. One just cannot do anything against these builders.
But the question is: what is the City Commissioner doing? What about his Vigilance team? I stay in the nearby area and often hear people talking in whispers. But, no one has the courage to bring that Thug Jawwad Done or Ramakant, his accomplice to books. All builders are like that only.
So, we can all discuss things in a theoretical context. In actual, it is the builders and the bueureaucrates who are hand inglove as ever. Can you stoop it? A real and a very big 'NO'.
nice thoughts. wonder u wanna cut paste the lines and send to commisioner in a stamped envelop. yeah.
This article is a really an eye opener. Recently, we had plans to buy an apartment advertised by the builder IndiaBulls in Panvel. The broucher indicated the area of the flat as 1203 Sq.Feet, however, on asking the carpet area I was told that it was 806 sq. feet. When I asked the lady concerned to send me the same in writing, she refused to do so. She told me that she had strict instructions from the higher authorities not to give any thing in writing to any one. The application form also did not have details about the carpet area or built-up area.
This is how the builders are fooling comman man. Strict action against such builders must be taken by the Govt.
In one's lifetime in India Indian common man pays 60% of his earnings to thugs cheats politician lawyers and
educationists and what not . Buying a flat is oneway of losing har earned money fpor salaried people
Yes I agree that the lobby of builders and the politician is hand in glove and also all the releavant administration too are equally responsible and ensure to see that their share is been taken out and the common people is been left unnoticed.
in flat there is always a agreemant of height also?
As I see, there are two options for a buyer. (1) Buy an incomplete flat, and (2) Buy a finished flat. In the first case, the price will be about 25% lesser than the completed flats, but the risks as stated above are there. In the second case, the price will be almost finalized and certain risks as stated above are overcome; moreover, the quality of workmanship and product can be examined in actual. For a person who likes to take risks, the first option is good and have a good margin. How much risks one can take should be assessed by oneself. From the present scenario that is going on around us, the risks involved are too high to just ignore, like some builders may just vanish. My advice is go for a finished product, and not just some imaginary home/ investment in the air.