Planning To Buy A Flat? Here Are 5 RERA Guidelines You Must Know

Purchasing a house is one of the most crucial moments in an individual’s life. If you are in the process of buying an apartment, there are some things you need to keep in mind. The most important thing to check is if the acquisition adheres to the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act of 2016. The RERA Act was implemented in order to increase transparency in the real estate sector and protest the interests of the buyers. If you are planning to buy a house, here are five RERA guidelines you must adhere to.

RERA Registered

The project must be registered in accordance with the State RERA. Every state has an online portal where people can check if their building/project is registered with the authorities. Buyers will need to enter either the name or the unique RERA registration number of the building in the portal.

Check Carpet Area

RERA only recognises the carpet area. A customer needs to check the carpet area of a residential unit before concluding its sale. The carpet area should match what the builder claimed in the sale agreement. Developers cannot promote exaggerated carpet areas to charge more from the buyers.

Projects Under Construction

If the project is under construction, the buyer needs to check if the developer has kept 70 per cent of the money received from the customers into an Escrow account. An escrow account is a separate account in a scheduled commercial bank created exclusively for the project. This mitigates the risk of insolvency or the builder using the customers’ money for other projects.

In case of defect in the project bought

If any defect (structural, quality, service provision or any obligation relating to the project as per the sales agreement) in the project is brought to the notice of the promoter by the allottee within five years of the date of possession, it will be the duty of the promoter to repair the damage. This must be done in a month without levying any charges on the buyers. In case the damage is not repaired, the aggrieved person can receive compensation as provided under RERA.

The developer cannot charge over 10 percent of the project’s cost as an advance fee. This lessens the responsibility of the customer to find a hefty sum quickly.

The RERA guidelines need to be kept in mind before purchasing a flat. The guidelines make the real estate sector more transparent and provide relief to the buyer in case things go wrong.

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