RERA BIHAR: - A STEP TOWARDS EFFICIENT REAL ESTATE MARKET

Our Article published in Times Of India, Patna Edition on 29th July 2018

(We have reproduced here our Article first printed in Times of India, the newspaper) 

How many real estate projects are going on in Bihar? Who are the builders? What is the status of construction? Time till completion!!! Home buyers in Bihar have always been curious about these issues!!! Now they have a platform; RERA BIHAR. The buyers in Bihar have RERA BIHAR website to look into these anxieties. Developers and builders in Bihar just do not have to register themselves with RERA BIHAR but have to give all the details related to the project, to be put up on the regulator’s website for the public to see.  Now if anyone is planning to buy a flat in Bihar, most of the questions can be answered on this website, though at the time of writing; the website needs a lot of up-gradation and validation, but it is functional.

According to RERA ACT, after 31 July 2017, if an ongoing residential project or a new project that is more than 500 sq. meter or has more than eight apartments, wants to advertise or sell its units, it has to get registered with the real estate regulator of that state or union territory. And within one year in Bihar more than 350 projects are registered with BIHAR RERA. No surprises that ninety percent of them are from Patna alone as Patna is the largest property market of Bihar. That is commendable and the number will increase by the time the grace period for registration ends this month. For non-registration there is provision of hefty fines.

“Home-buyers can easily find the complete set of documents relating to the residential project on the Bihar RERA website, right from approvals to application for occupation certificate, along with the expected timeline projection. It will be possible to know the details about the sale of a project, which was not easily made known,” says Director of Chitra Homes, Vikash Kumar a builder in Patna, who has recently got his new project approved by RERA BIHAR. Vikash adds, “Real estate is all about trust and such transparency helps build trust”.

If one is planning to buy an apartment in an under-construction project, it is good to know how many units have been booked and how many are left. This indicates demand and interest of buyers in the particular project. Also, a real estate agent will not be able to mislead you, stating that only a few units are left and you should book quickly. For under-construction projects, it is important to know if its construction is going as per schedule. You can find “the date that the developer has committed for the project to be completed, as well as any revisions of this date; the current stage of development, information on the support infrastructure like water, electricity and internal roads, along with the progress made on them from RERA BIHAR.

How many real estate projects are going on in Bihar? Who are the builders? What is the status of construction? Time till completion!!! Home buyers in Bihar have always been curious about these issues!!! Now they have a platform; RERA BIHAR. The buyers in Bihar have RERA BIHAR website to look into these anxieties. Developers and builders in Bihar just do not have to register themselves with RERA BIHAR but have to give all the details related to the project, to be put up on the regulator’s website for the public to see.  Now if anyone is planning to buy a flat in Bihar, most of the questions can be answered on this website, though at the time of writing; the website needs a lot of up-gradation and validation, but it is functional.

According to RERA ACT, after 31 July 2017, if an ongoing residential project or a new project that is more than 500 sq. meter or has more than eight apartments, wants to advertise or sell its units, it has to get registered with the real estate regulator of that state or union territory. And within one year in Bihar more than 350 projects are registered with BIHAR RERA. No surprises that ninety percent of them are from Patna alone as Patna is the largest property market of Bihar. That is commendable and the number will increase by the time the grace period for registration ends this month. For non-registration there is provision of hefty fines.

“Home-buyers can easily find the complete set of documents relating to the residential project on the Bihar RERA website, right from approvals to application for occupation certificate, along with the expected timeline projection. It will be possible to know the details about the sale of a project, which was not easily made known,” says Director of Chitra Homes, Vikash Kumar a builder in Patna, who has recently got his new project approved by RERA BIHAR. Vikash adds, “Real estate is all about trust and such transparency helps build trust”.

If one is planning to buy an apartment in an under-construction project, it is good to know how many units have been booked and how many are left. This indicates demand and interest of buyers in the particular project. Also, a real estate agent will not be able to mislead you, stating that only a few units are left and you should book quickly. For under-construction projects, it is important to know if its construction is going as per schedule. You can find “the date that the developer has committed for the project to be completed, as well as any revisions of this date; the current stage of development, information on the support infrastructure like water, electricity and internal roads, along with the progress made on them from RERA BIHAR.

RERA no doubt is a measure to protect buyer’s interest but at the same time RERA means financial and operational prudence if implemented well for developers and builders in Bihar. RERA treats each project separately, leading to different escrow accounts for different projects. The financial discipline will make many developers in Bihar to timely hand-over their projects so that they can move to new projects. The execution will be the key. The builders can concentrate in what they are best at; building valuable projects for the market to absorb without having uncertainties to deal with. Therefore they too are a happy lot. RERA emphasizes on efficiency and this is must for any prudent business effort. The majority of builder community therefore welcomes RERA as bliss in the long term for their business. 

After a long time, Bihar real estate is looking for a great festival season (Dusshera-Diwali) with many laws like GST, RERA now settled and buyers re-gaining confidence and trust in the property markets of Bihar once again. Now the buyers can rest assured that the keys to their dream homes will be delivered on time; there is a regulator watching the timely delivery.