Over the past few decades, the Indian real estate market has witnessed a huge boom, leading to the emergence of several real estate hotspots in the country. Nowadays, more and more people are considering real estate as a preferred investment avenue, as it not only offers lucrative ROI but also helps diversify the investment portfolio while minimising risk. Earlier, there were no set standards in the real estate market, and almost every other developer followed their own norms. Additionally, instances of delays in project handovers, though not commonplace, were still a worrisome aspect of real estate investment. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act or RERA Act of 2016 was a significant step taken by the Government of India in a bid to regularise the unorganised real estate sector. The RERA Act regulates the real estate sector across all states of India.
To understand the significance of the RERA Act, it is first crucial to understand what RERA is, what is a RERA-approved property, and so on.
The Real Estate Regulatory Authority, commonly known as RERA, came into being in 2016 as per the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act with an aim to contain the rising real estate prices, to safeguard the interests of homebuyers and real estate investors, and to bring transparency to the real estate market. RERA has implemented several reforms in the industry, since its inception, and has many more in the pipeline. The act was passed in the Indian parliament in March 2016 and implemented on May 1, 2017. According to this act, every real estate project with a land area of more than 500 square metres needs to be registered with RERA before it is launched. For a property buyer or even a builder, having knowledge about the rules and guidelines of RERA makes it easier to navigate the real estate market.
Some of the key advantages of RERA-registered projects:
One of the first things that any property buyer should look for in a real estate project is the RERA Registration or the RERA certificate of the project. All real estate projects that are registered with RERA are provided with a legal document or certificate, which has a unique registration number. Any builder or developer is not allowed to do any advertising, sales, or bookings for real estate projects without first obtaining the RERA Registration. Apart from the unique registration number, the certificate also includes all the important information about the property, agent, and developer.
For RERA-registered projects, the certificate’s salient features include:
The process for RERA registration is overseen by the state authorities under RERA and so, may vary from state to state. The entire process is online, beginning with the application filing, which can be done from the official website of the state where the project is located. The basic procedure for the registration includes the following: -
RERA has significantly helped standardise and regulate the real estate market of India, bringing a lot of stability and transparency into all transactions. Ensuring that you only invest in RERA-registered projects is essential for making a good property-buying decision.
