Maharashtra breaks ground with housing regulation bill

In a bid to bring transparency and accountability to the housing sector and put an end to multiple malpractices faced by flat purchasers, the Maharashtra state cabinet recently approved the Maharashtra Housing (Regulation and Promotion of Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer) Bill, 2011. The bill is intended to repeal the Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Regulation of the Promotion of Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer) Act, 1963 (MOFA), the current law regulating housing projects, and will be placed before the state legislature this month.

The bill seeks to enter uncharted territory and, if passed, Maharashtra would become the first state to establish a Housing Regulatory Authority and Housing Appellate Tribunal to handle all flat transaction disputes. Such disputes are presently handled by consumer and civil courts.

Central model

The bill, in its present form, has been modelled on the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Bill, 2011, proposed by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (central bill), which also seeks to establish a real estate regulator.

Deepti Mohan is a partner of Vidhii Partners and can be reached at deepti.mohan@vidhiipartners.com.