An act of the Parliament of India, The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 came to aid and act as a support system of the home buyers. It aims at the real estate sector of the country in enhancing its factors and helping the home buyers by simultaneously raising the investment of the real estate sector.  The Act rolled into force on 1 May 2016 with about 59 actions notified out of 92. The authority built under the Act is established for every state regulating the real estate laws and order which also acts as an adjudicating body in disputes.  Though being in existence for about a year, it is going through certain ups and down in being exercised for its implementation and challenges. 

Issues faced under RERA Act

One of the constant issues faced by the real estate sector is the source of finance. As being one of the major factors of any such sector or development area, finance is what provides a firm ground to hold on and process successfully.  As the image of the real estate sector has been nothing but poor for quite some time, it is difficult for the banks to trust completely and provide loans. This makes the other sources of finance expensive to live up to the cost of the project or work.

One of the many issues faced under RERA is the liability of developers to provide for workmanship for structural defects for a term of five years.

It has been made clear under RERA that in any case where there is a scene of structural defect in workmanship, quality or provision of any such services of the promoter according to the agreement for sale relating to development is taken to the notice of the promoter within the term of 5 years by the allottee from the date of handing over the possession. The promoter must rectify the defects without having to charge within 30 days. If the promoter fails to rectify so defects within the provided time, the aggrieved allottees are to be entitled to take outfitting compensation in the manner as provided under this Act."

The second is the sector being gone through the structural flaws in a building which includes the basic reliability of the developer of the project. The developer of the project of building needs to make sure there is no defect as per the structure of the project is concerned before the building or the project involves people staying in that place. 

The developer is one such entity who needs to address the defects, be it during the working or development of the project or after it. The structural defects and effects of workmanship are two different aspects, but, they are however put under the same slot under RERA. The initial date for both the aspects is given as the date of possession when the structural defect should be on the date of completion certificate as it is included for the whole project/building giving in the time of 5 years. However, the workmanship shall be from the date of possession and it should be only for a year as the internal things present are small with the different views on it and certain clarity is required on this.

The third one is the compliance problem faced under RERA. 

There are several and important aspects present for the buyers and investors under RERA, but, as for the developers, there are a few problems faced by them under the same. The problems include the multiplicity of approvals and also the lack of proper and as required funding avenues are still being unattended. Not only this, getting approvals before the registration for any project is being nothing but a difficult and tiresome event as the number of authorities to be visited is tiring. Such a problem is clear with the instance that the property falls under the matter of the State Government whereas the environment clearance falls under the subject matter of the Union Government. 

Another daunting issue faced under RERA is the need for approvals for a single window.

The clearance window must be a single one when it comes to granting all regulatory permissions. The builders in the present scenario are off with their errors from the state agencies which hold the deal of providing permissions at different stages of the development of a project. Such permissions needed at every single step leads to frustration amongst the developers. It is one of the biggest drawbacks of the RERA, clearing statutory authorities in giving permissions. To be proper in the real estate sector and to help it improve and grow, a single-window needs to grant all kinds of approvals, be it at the initial and ending stage or in the middle process. 

The Carpet Area under the RERA Act is not defined strongly. 

The carpet area is the area attained by the buyer when the property is dealt with completely and it is in the possession of the buyer. If in some cases, the carpet area is incomplete, the buyer is liable to get quite some chunks cut off, and it is not just of the property, but, it also includes the investment made earlier. It is an essential influence in determining the price of a property. Promises and proper steps are made to be taken in order to make everything under the real estate work properly is still somehow under construction. There are few states which are completely void of the Act and are still working as per their previous regulatory provisions. It is somehow just a year old and it takes crucial years to get into complete shape from every aspect. However, many things are mended and it is but a step ahead in the sector of growth, both, for the buyers, and for the whole sector.