The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has mandated developers to specify the delivery dates of amenities in the Agreement for Sale’s Annexure-I. This initiative aims to eliminate the uncertainty faced by homebuyers regarding the availability of promised facilities after moving in.
Developers must now provide a phase-wise and date-specific schedule for amenities, including swimming pools, clubhouses, and jogging tracks, ensuring adherence to the agreed timelines. Larger housing projects, typically delivered in phases, often delay the completion of amenities until the final phase. To address this, the new regulations mandate developers to detail the availability of these facilities for each phase, enhancing transparency and accountability. Previously registered agreements will retain certain non-negotiable clauses, such as the defect liability period and force majeure, to protect homebuyers’ rights.
Significantly, any major revisions or relocations of specified amenities require MahaRERA’s approval, along with the consent of two-thirds of the residents. This prevents unilateral changes by developers and ensures residents’ interests are safeguarded. MahaRERA’s recent order, effective immediately, also demands comprehensive details of recreational grounds, types of lifts, and the expected date of the Occupancy Certificate (OC). By including these provisions in the Annexure-I and Schedule-II of the Agreement for Sale, MahaRERA enhances the transparency of real estate transactions. Homebuyers will now have a clear timeline for when amenities will be available, similar to the details provided for the apartment’s possession date. This new regulation follows MahaRERA’s previous efforts to empower homebuyers, ensuring their investments are protected and their rights upheld.
Ajoy Mehta, Chairman, MahaRERA said, “When advertising their new housing projects, developers often promote a variety of attractive facilities and amenities alongside the actual apartments, such as a swimming pool, badminton court, tennis court, theatre, gymnasium, senior citizen area, etc. In practice, the Agreement for Sale typically includes details about the price of the apartment, construction linked payment plan, and penalty in case of a default in payment. However, there is no mention of when the proposed facilities and amenities will actually be made available. MahaRERA has observed that many homebuyers have been affected by these shortcomings and has taken a serious note of this issue. After providing all stakeholders ample opportunity to express their views, it has now been made mandatory to specify the delivery timeline of all the promised facilities and amenities in the Schedule II of the Agreement for Sale. The Schedule II will have to provide the details comprehensively, a model format has also been made available for the same. Any changes or modifications to these details will require MahaRERA’s approval. Moreover, any changes to the location or number of facilities and amenities will require consent of two-thirds of the homebuyers.”
