A complete guide to understanding RERA

For long, the real estate sector remained largely unregulated with uneven information distribution, no financial discipline, terms favouring developers, and little or no grievance redressal forums for home buyers. 2016 was a game changer when the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act was introduced with a purpose of protecting the interests of homebuyers, boosting real estate investments, and ensuring transparency in general. The said Act mandates that each state establish its own regulatory body and create rules to oversee its functioning.

But, what is RERA and how does the home buyer gain from it?

RERA or Real Estate Regulatory Authority is a body that came into existence as per the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, of 2016. For home buyers, RERA offers support and protects them in critical areas: delays in project delivery, changes in project plans, lack of information and more. Let's look at five such crucial areas:

Other RERA guidelines that support the buyer:

RERA guidelines state that developers cannot collect more than 10% of the total cost of a flat/house before signing and registration of the agreement. Promoters to provide a clear property title and ensure legal ownership. The guidelines guarantee fair transactions and standardisation of the sale agreement. Thus, RERA guidelines bring clarity to both developers and homebuyers, so they know their rights and responsibilities.

Is every real estate project a RERA-approved project?

Residential and commercial projects that have land area exceeding 500 square metres, or the number of apartments proposed to be developed are more than eight apartments, are required to be compulsorily registered under RERA. Developers can only market and sell projects once they are RERA-approved, and are obligated to sell properties solely based on the carpet area, which is the net usable floor area

Before investing in a property, it's important to verify whether it is a RERA-approved project. Here's how:

• Each state has a dedicated RERA website. Visit the MahaRERA website (https://maharera.maharashtra.gov.in/projects-search-result) to check the status of the project in Maharashtra. Similarly, visit the state RERA websites of Delhi (https://www.rera.delhi.gov.in/) and Karnataka (https://rera.karnataka.gov.in/) to check the projects in those geographies, and so on.
• Search using one of the following:
  1. project's name
  2. promoter's name
  3. registration number

• This will provide you with all the necessary details, including project status, approvals, and timelines.
• With the details on the website, homebuyers can also see that the project has all the required approvals and that the developer has a good track record.

Ensuring compliance at every step

The Real Estate Regulatory Authority looks into registered projects and can take action against non-compliant developers. The Real Estate Regulatory Authority approves and monitors real estate projects and their progress. They promote the sector by ensuring fair practices and protecting the interests of the home buyers. RERA also ensures that developers stick to the sanctioned project plan. They aren't allowed to make any changes to the plan unless two-thirds of the allottees agree.

All in all, RERA ensures accountability by holding builders/developers accountable for their commitments, thus reducing the risk of project delays. It establishes a legal framework for swift and fair dispute resolution. By standardising key terms like carpet area, RERA eliminates ambiguity, making transactions clearer and more straightforward.

RERA has been a game changer for the real estate sector of India. It has led to strong positive shifts such as improved consumer confidence, due to higher developer professionalism in the real estate sector and improved transparency. Now it is the turn of homebuyers to equip themselves with greater information and awareness about the many benefits they can gain from implementation of RERA, and make home buying a pleasant experience.