Fresh look at bill to regulate housing

Maharashtra’s own proposal to set up a regulator has been pending sanction for over a year. The Bill proposes to set up a three-member panel on the lines of TRAI or SEBI,which will rationalise prices of houses for middle-income and low-income groups and fix a percentage of such affordable flats that private developers have to build in their residential projects.

“The Centre has prepared its model act. We might have to rework our bill according to the new central law,” said Sitaram Kunte,principal secretary for the state housing department.

The Centre’s model Act does not allow developers to start a project or even advertise it without registering with the authority. Any builder who violates this provision can face up to three years in jail or be fined a percentage of the project cost.

The Act may,however,leave out redevelopment of hundreds of buildings in the island city of Mumbai from its purview. The proposed Act states that “no registration shall be required,when the area of land proposed to be developed into a colony does not exceed one thousand square metres”.

Most of the cessed buildings taken up for redevelopment in the island city are on plots less than 1000 sq m. “In the island city,only textile land or projects that are taken up under cluster redevelopment are more than 1000 sq m. Most of the plots in wards C (Girgaum),D (Grant Road,Peddar Road) and E (Byculla) are of smaller area. As per the existing rules,we allow construction of tall buildings on these narrow plots,” said VN Desai,deputy chief engineer for BMC’s building proposals department in the island city.

Once the Act is finalised by the Centre,the state will have to set up a three-member regulatory authority headed by a person who has held the post of Principal Secretary. Developers will be given a chance to appeal with an appellate tribunal headed by someone who has been High Court judge. The Union ministry has invited suggestions over the next 45 days; the state-specific rules have to be approved by the legislature before the Act can be implemented.