Haryana RERA – Homebuyers to pay for carpet area

Haryana RERA has declared that home buyers must buy the house based on carpet area. Thus, protecting and safeguarding the interest of the property buyers. It was mainly intended to avoid the possibility of buyer’s exploitation by developers.

Carpet area and saleable area

It is important to consider the definition and understand the meaning of carpet area and saleable area according to the RERA:

• Carpet Area – It is a smaller area compared to a saleable area. If a carpet is spread from wall to wall throughout the apartment, then this usable area is called carpet area. The degree of accuracy is highest in its calculation. So there cannot be any room for errors to create a difference in pricing.

• As per RERA, Saleable Area” includes Carpet Area plus veranda or balcony area which is exclusively meant for the allottee plus the proportionate share of common areas and any other area as agreed between the promoter and allottee in the agreement of sale for which a proportionate cost has been collected from the allottees.

RERA regulation to sell apartments

Prior to reaching to the stage of buying or selling, RERA has made it mandatory for the promoter to register themselves as well as the project

As per the Maharashtra RERA, Section 3 of the Act, the promoter of an ongoing project shall not advertise, market, book, sell or offer for sale or invite persons to purchase in any manner any plot, apartment, or building, unless he registers the project. In the ongoing projects, developers may still advertise but this could be subject to state rules.

Now, developers will also have to compulsorily register themselves as well as their projects with the authority. Unless they do so, they won’t be able to either advertise or sell their project. This will ensure better governance of the sector and also help buyers

Haryana RERA has included the above clauses in Sec.1, Chapter 3 of the Act.

Furthermore, it has also mentioned that the price of an apartment in a real estate project shall be charged by the promoter from the apartment buyers only on the basis of the carpet area of the apartment. With regard to the price of the plot in any real estate project shall be charged by the promoter from the plot buyers only on the basis of per square meter of net usable area of the plot i.e. actual dimensions of the plot.

How Haryana RERA protects the buyers before the purchase of the property

If the plot area of the project is more than 500 sq. meters or the number of tenements to be developed exceeds 8, then it is mandatory that the promoter, as well as the project, have to be registered under RERA.

Prior to registering the developer, RERA has the process of conducting thorough due diligence. Some of the documents are listed below:

1. Developer’s firm/company registration details
2. Details of the projects completed in the previous 5 years and that of ongoing projects.
3. Copy of the approvals and commencement certificate, the sanctioned plan, layout plan, and specifications of the proposed project
4. Proforma of the allotment letter, agreement for sale, and the conveyance deed proposed to be signed with the allottees.
5. Land/plot title clearance details

Most developers tend to have multiple projects being developed simultaneously. Earlier, developers were allowed to transfer funds raised from one project to that of another. However, now under the RERA, a minimum of 70% of the homebuyers’ and investors’ money is kept in a separate account. These funds will then be allotted to the developer only for construction and land-related costs only after certification by an engineer, a chartered accountant, and an architect.

Developers can only ask for up to 10% of the home’s cost as an advance payment towards booking the apartment before the sale agreement is signed.

RERA makes all the information available to homebuyers on their portal through a unique registration number allotted to the project.

Benefits to the homebuyer to buy a home based on carpet area

Since the carpet area transaction has been introduced by RERA, home buyers get what they are promised. This makes it clear to them as to what they are paying for which was not the case when they when the transaction used to take place based on built-up area. Earlier, there was no standardization of the calculation of the area and the price asked for. However, RERA’s move of carpet area has brought the much-required standardization and accuracy. Now, the buyer will know his buying area precisely before construction as well as post-construction as RERA has established transparency throughout all the stages of the project.

For a buyer as well as the developer, RERA is a complete ecosystem comprising a detailed information portal as well as a strong grievance resolving interface.