Latest news with #ApartmentOwnershipAct
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA) reforms to add to buyers' interests
BHUBANESWAR: Besides the Apartment Ownership Act, the recent reforms brought by Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA) have the potential to protect homebuyers' interests, along with bringing changes in the authority's operational framework amid a growing real estate market. One of the key reforms has been the integration of local enforcement wings with ORERA, substantially enhancing its ability to execute orders effectively. And the reforms extend beyond mere structural changes. District collectors are now required to include RERA provisions as a permanent agenda in their monthly reviews and report illegal constructions. Additionally, the housing and urban development department will work in tandem with revenue and disaster management department to ensure proper execution of penalties under the Orissa Public Demands Recovery Act, 1962. 'Strengthening the authority is our primary focus. We need to work with the state machinery to ensure ORERA's effectiveness. Some of the key recommendations have been endorsed by the state govt recently and we are working on more such reforms to make the authority stronger. Awareness of the public is key to all of these,' Asit Kumar Mohapatra, ORERA chairperson who was appointed this May, said. Real estate analyst Malay Mishra sees these changes having far-reaching implications, particularly in terms of order execution. 'We hope that the departments and ORERA work in tandem to achieve functionality of the authority,' he said.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Apartment Ownership Act: The Future of Urban Living
Bhubaneswar: Earlier this year on May 18, residents of a real estate project in Bhubaneswar organised a silent protest, demanding handing over of the common areas to the association of allottees, a must under the Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Act, 2023. "The common areas have been specified in our project, which, according to the Act, belong to us and should be utilised by us. The builder, instead of handing over the areas, is using the space to construct roads to its other adjacent projects," Ajit Kumar Choudhary, president of the association of allottees, had said. Having been deprived of the common areas for a long time, the association later approached the court against the builder and got a stay order, which means that the builder cannot undertake any kind of construction in the common area. This was made possible all thanks to the Apartment Ownership Act which has significantly shifted the power dynamics between developers and homebuyers. "Without the regulations in place, we couldn't have challenged the developer. The Act gave us the upper hand and we secured a favourable decree from Orissa high court later in our case," Choudhary added. Introduced two years ago with the objective of clearly defining ownership rights of homebuyers in apartment buildings and establishing guidelines for the use of common areas and facilities, the Act's implementation took time owing to complications in apartment sale deed registrations and other factors. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Villas in Dubai | Search Ads Get Info Undo But ever since its implementation, the Act has brought unprecedented changes in how apartments are managed, owned and regulated. "The Act has several provisions which empower the homebuyers, who are now challenging the developers for their rights," real estate expert Bimalendu Pradhan, who, along with other activists, played a key role in raising awareness about the legislation, said. One of the most significant achievements of the Act was breaking the two-and-a-half-year-long deadlock in apartment sale deed registrations. The breakthrough came last April with the registration of the first association of allottees, leading to partial resumption of sale deed registrations in June 2024. This development was particularly crucial as the high court had previously mandated that registrations could only proceed when the apartments possessed all necessary legal documentation, including occupancy certificates, environmental clearances and fire safety certificates. The new registration process for the association of allottees under the Apartment Ownership Act, rather than the Societies Registration Act, 1860, ensures comprehensive compliance with all legal requirements. The Act's success is reflected in the numbers. Data from BDA, which is the competent authority in the capital city under the Act to issue certificates for registration of apartment owners' associations, revealed that out of 519 applications received for registration of allottees' associations in the past two years, 419 have been approved. As many as 70 of these approved applications have received declarations from the developers, establishing them as registered associations under the Act. BDA has further strengthened the Act's implementation through landmark orders recently. One significant directive empowers the allottee associations to discontinue essential services of occupants defaulting on maintenance fees. "We now have clear rules to deal with residents who enjoy facilities but refuse to pay maintenance fees," Santosh Acharya, president of a prominent housing society in Bomikhal, said. The state govt also continues to support the Act's implementation. Revenue minister Suresh Pujari has confirmed ongoing efforts to streamline apartment and part plot registration processes, while housing and urban development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra highlighted a Feb 2025 notification for the Act that further clarified resale procedures. Issues, however, remain for registering the older apartments under the Act since many of them do not have documents like occupancy certificate, fire safety certificate and others. "The govt with the Feb (2025) notification (which notified the rules of the Act) should have brought a method of regularising these apartments," Pradhan said. As the Act continues to evolve and shape Odisha's real estate sector, it stands as a testament to effective policy-making that balances the interests of all stakeholders while ensuring efficient property management.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
ORERA reforms to add to buyers' interests
Bhubaneswar: Besides the Apartment Ownership Act, the recent reforms brought by Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA) have the potential to protect homebuyers' interests, along with bringing changes in the authority's operational framework amid a growing real estate market. One of the key reforms has been the integration of local enforcement wings with ORERA, substantially enhancing its ability to execute orders effectively. And the reforms extend beyond mere structural changes. District collectors are now required to include RERA provisions as a permanent agenda in their monthly reviews and report illegal constructions. Additionally, the housing and urban development department will work in tandem with revenue and disaster management department to ensure proper execution of penalties under the Orissa Public Demands Recovery Act, 1962. "Strengthening the authority is our primary focus. We need to work with the state machinery to ensure ORERA's effectiveness. Some of the key recommendations have been endorsed by the state govt recently and we are working on more such reforms to make the authority stronger. Awareness of the public is key to all of these," Asit Kumar Mohapatra, ORERA chairperson who was appointed this May, said. Real estate analyst Malay Mishra sees these changes having far-reaching implications, particularly in terms of order execution. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: One simple trick to get internet without a subscription Techno Mag Learn More Undo "We hope that the departments and ORERA work in tandem to achieve functionality of the authority," he said. Bhubaneswar: Besides the Apartment Ownership Act, the recent reforms brought by Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA) have the potential to protect homebuyers' interests, along with bringing changes in the authority's operational framework amid a growing real estate market. One of the key reforms has been the integration of local enforcement wings with ORERA, substantially enhancing its ability to execute orders effectively. And the reforms extend beyond mere structural changes. District collectors are now required to include RERA provisions as a permanent agenda in their monthly reviews and report illegal constructions. Additionally, the housing and urban development department will work in tandem with revenue and disaster management department to ensure proper execution of penalties under the Orissa Public Demands Recovery Act, 1962. "Strengthening the authority is our primary focus. We need to work with the state machinery to ensure ORERA's effectiveness. Some of the key recommendations have been endorsed by the state govt recently and we are working on more such reforms to make the authority stronger. Awareness of the public is key to all of these," Asit Kumar Mohapatra, ORERA chairperson who was appointed this May, said. Real estate analyst Malay Mishra sees these changes having far-reaching implications, particularly in terms of order execution. "We hope that the departments and ORERA work in tandem to achieve functionality of the authority," he said.
Time of India
28-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
HC orders bring shift in real estate sector, protect homebuyers' interests
Bhubaneswar: A series of orders passed by the Orissa high court recently, mostly in homebuyers' interest, are likely to bring a major shift in the real estate sector, particularly in Bhubaneswar. Experts believe that the monopoly of developers is finally diminishing. Hearing a plea from an allottee's association of a major housing project at Paikarapur in Kalinga Nagar, the Orissa HC brought a stay on the construction of an approach road by the developer to another of his projects since it was allegedly taken up in the common area of the existing housing project. The builder, in this context, was executing a housing project in phases, which was never disclosed to the owners of the first project. The builder fraudulently obtained plan approval from authorities and forcefully demolished a boundary wall, which was in the common area of the first project. "According to the Apartment Ownership Act, the builder should hand over the common areas and the facilities to us and has no rights on the land, but here the builder used force. We approached the HC and received a verdict in our favour," said president of the housing society Ajit Kumar Choudhury. In another verdict, the Orissa HC adjourned the matter in a case filed by a developers' association seeking a change in an ORERA notification, which says that all developers should keep 1% of the project value in its account for five years to cover expenses for any structural damage. As per rules, the closure of a project can only be announced, and an occupancy certificate issued to a project if developers adhere to keeping the 1% of the project value, but it was challenged in the HC, and the verdict went in favour of the rules. "ORERA in its notification mentioned that 1% amount should be kept in its account as security, which is to be utilised for maintenance till five years. A city-based developers' association challenged this notification, but the matter was adjourned," said real estate expert Bimalendu Pradhan. Another case was filed a few months back to ensure appointments of the chairperson and members of ORERA, as all three positions went vacant since May 2025. In the meantime, the govt has filled up all positions but doubts have been raised about the qualifications of one of the appointed members. The HC, hearing the case on June 25, kept the matter and gave a next date of hearing. "The orders passed by the High Court recently have instilled hope among the buyers that they can fight for their own rights and win," Pradhan said. In another case, a complaint was raised on two major issues: Was BDA correct in giving plan approval to a project within a BMC area after the power to approve plans was delegated from BDA to BMC in 2015, and was the revised plan valid? The HC asked the BMC to dispose of the matter in two months. In yet another case, the HC heard whether a project being executed in phases should have one association or multiple ones. The matter was challenged by a major city-based developer, on which the HC brought a stay order on the use of common areas.
