Booked a flat in one of the upper floors of a proposed or a building approved in principle?
Booked a flat in one of the upper floors of a proposed or a building approved in principle? Chances are that your dream home may not be built at all.
Many developers will be forced to slash the heights of their proposed buildings due to amendments in the Development Control (DC) rules.
As per the new DC rules, which came into force on January 6, all building plans approved earlier and issued an intimation of disapproval (IOD) have been scrapped by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Developers will have to seek fresh approvals under the revised DC rules. They will have to revise their existing plans by reducing the height of the buildings as they are no longer eligible for concessions and free floor space index (FSI). It is unlikely that a developer will pay from his pocket for the additional FSI and construct taller buildings.
Buyers can either lose their money partly or completely and their chances of buying a home in that building will also be doomed if the flats on other floors are sold out.
A developer with an IOD for a 25-storey building may also slash five floors if his project has been delayed due to other issues such as litigations, consent of tenants and owners, fund crunch and failure to get the commencement certificate (CC) which eventually means lesser FSI.
Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) president Paras Gundecha has slammed the new rules and said the government has taken an unwise and one-sided decision without consulting all stakeholders.
“There will be a big disaster if all flats in a said building are booked. Who will be responsible for the chaos? The government should think twice before taking such big decisions. They should not have scrapped proposals with IODs,” he said.
The consequences, Gundecha said, will be severe. “The corporation should be ready to face several legal cases. The new decision will get mired in a legal tangle because there are several projects that got IODs more than five years ago. They will have to revise their proposals. It is illogical. Many people will lose their dream homes,” he said.
A real estate expert said a buyer does not look beyond approval from the corporation (IOD) while booking a flat.
“He does not bother about CC and other niche approvals. Therefore, many buyers who have booked flats in upper floors should be prepared to lose their property,” he said.
Developers say they are back to square one. “I had obtained CC for my suburban residential project where a nine-storey building has been constructed by using the regular FSI of one. After using the transfer of development rights (TDR), I decided to construct a 19-storey structure, but the authorities say new rules will be applicable for the utilisation of TDR or additional FSI. It will change the entire elevation my building,” said Nayan Shah, CEO of Mayfair Housing.
He said he will not be able to fulfil the commitments he made to owners and tenants.
“The administration should understand the pulse of the problem. We are not against the new rules. We welcome them, but they should be implemented after giving enough time to the developers,” Shah said. Senior government officials, however, fail to understand what the hue and cry is about.
“A rule is a rule and it is the same for everyone. Developers have misused several rules earlier because of which we were compelled to come up with such stringent rules,” he said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}