Category: Kolkata Real Estate

To Be Or Not To Be- Smart City Tag For New Town

The central government wants to give a second thought on whether New Town in Kolkata should receive a ‘Smart City’ tag or not, as there is no implementation of any central government flagship programmes by far, revealed the Union minister of housing and urban affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri.

maxresdefault

Yet, the government thinks that the entire pre-defined project must be stuck in the administrative dilemma of this area. The minister added that the government had given 2-years duration for sorting out the unsettled administrative issues. Having chosen for smart city mission, a city should necessarily appoint consultants, set-up special purpose vehicle (SPV), plan projects, and kick-start tendering for such projects. No such updates have been observed in New Town over past few years. Thus, the government should take-up action against the same.

Under the smart city mission, 100 smart cities to be developed across the country in which every city obtains a financial grant of Rs. 500 cr to start off projects such as wastewater treatment, solid waste management, street lights, slum up gradation, roads, and public transport etc.

“For implementing any big plan, infrastructural support and resources both hold an equivalent importance. Before Smart City mission, RERA must happen across the country in order to create a uniformity and regulation across the realty-scape. A fundamental legislative framework can only draw out the best trajectory for futuristic developments such as- Smart City Mission,” says Mahesh Somani, Chairman- National RERA Committee, Head- East Zone, National Association of Realtors India (NAR).

–LNN (Liyans News Network)– Buy/Sell/Rent properties online. Invest in affordable flats in Kolkata. Find your dream home in Kolkata, that too within budget. Get complete project details of available budget flats in Kolkata. Price starts from Rs. 20lac onwards. Drop your requirement here.

How RERA Impacts The Lease Transactions?

Starting from its implementation, the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) has made the structural reform distinctive and transparent. Maharashtra was the first state to notify the Act in the presence a state regulatory authority. As of now, the state authority has acted on the errant buyers against complaints in bulk from the aggrieved home buyers and still it has been dealing with a number of complaints filed by numerous allottees against the builders and the agents of the state. Now the Appellate Tribunal is also operational in the state.
One of the most debatable subjects of the RERA provision is the definition of an “allottee”. RERA came into the picture to ensure accountability in real estate transactions. However, by the term “allottee” RERA points to a person to whom any real estate unit is sold not a person to whom the possession is given on rent/lease.

The Transfer of Property Act 1882 deals with renting/leasing properties where the term lease is defined as a right to enjoy an immovable property for a pre-determined time period in consideration of a price paid or agreed. In a property deal, where the developer executes a lease agreement with the allottee, the developer is addressed as a lessor, and the allottee is referred as the lessee. The price paid by the allottee to the promoter is known as the premium, and the money exchanged is referred as rent. Yet there are projects where the developers execute lease agreement/s in respect of a plot, apartment or building, with certain provisions which are one and the same to that of an agreement for sale for e.g. the date of handing over possession.

Now the million dollar question is will such transactions be ruminated by RERA guidelines, particularly when it comes to a long-term lease between the lessor and the lessee and the project is registered with MahaRERA?
The FAQ’s made available on the MahaRERA website answered this query where it stated that long-term leases will be considered under MahaRERA scope. Acting on an earlier complaint, the adjudicating officer of MahaRERA cited that lease transactions won’t attract RERA norms. However, the Appellate Tribunal in its first judgment dealt with this crucial issue and relying upon the provisions of law governing lease it ordered that lease transactions will be governed by the real estate Act as well and MahaRERA will hear such cases in the future.

The following verdict will mandate those project registrations under RERA and adhere to the guidelines of the Act. Now the allottees could seek justice to the Authority or the adjudicating officer to secure their rights as the case may be. Thus, developers have to draft the lease documents cautiously complying with the RERA norms in order to avoid the lawsuit.

–LNN (Liyans News Network)– Stay updated with the real estate market. For Kolkata properties, explore residential property sale in Kolkata and avail attractive deals and discounts on selected luxury and budget properties in Kolkata. Drop your requirement now to get attended by best of the market experts.

Active Participatory Role Of Homebuyers In Making Decisions About Insolvency Proceedings Of Real Estate Companies

Homebuyers might be considered as commensurate with the unsecured financial lenders at insolvency proceedings for real estate companies. With the implementation of this new rule, a bulk of the suffered homebuyers, left in the lurch for the compensation from real estate companies such as- Unitech, Jaypee Infratech, and Amrapali and reach a conclusive and of course a favorable speck.

A committee with the task allotted for reviewing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and under consideration by the government has made this suggestion, confirmed by a couple of senior officials tuned in with the buzz. With the resolution passed, the interest of all the stakeholders will be equally treated.
People who had invested in Amrapali and Jaypee Infratech projects are left in trouble after they failed to clear their dues. Apart from this, the ministry of corporate affairs has moved the bankruptcy court to ride herd on realtor Unitech.

In order to regulate recklessness of these companies, a 14-member law committee has been constituted to identify facts that “impact the efficiency of the corporate insolvency resolution and liquidation framework” and come up with recommendations to deal with them.
“A proposal is actively considered to give homebuyers a status of unsecured financial creditors,”-said one of the officials.

According to the official sources, the committee is likely to present its recommendation along with draft amendments to the IBC towards the end of this month. With the adoption of this recommendation, homebuyers will have a say in the insolvency proceedings and can be an active part of the committee of creditors. It will also empower them with the voting rights on the resolution plans.

The current IBC norms foster a waterfall financing-eight levels for the order of distribution of proceeds from the sale of liquidated assets among stakeholders. After the settlement of the resolution professionals and administrators, next come financial creditors and workmen’s dues, followed by unpaid dues of other employees except for the workmen. Then comes the unsecured financial creditors, followed by government dues and equity shareholders. Homebuyers are currently the last in the distribution list of the developers.

“The proposed amendment will provide homebuyers a higher spot in the IBC proceedings, as they will be one determinative voice in the resolution plan as well. Homebuyers will share the same base with the financial creditors,”-says, Mr. Mahesh Somani, Chairman- National RERA Committee, Head- East Zone, National Association of Realtors India (NAR).

As per the statistics, about 31,000 homebuyers of Jaypee Infratech and 41,000 of Amrapali’s Silicon City project have moved the Supreme Court and appealed that they should be treated in a class with financial creditors. To protect the interest of the homebuyers, the Supreme Court ordered the promoters of Jaypee Infratech not to sell personal assets and deposit Rs 2,000 crore with the court.

Similarly, Amparapali was ordered to submit a plan to deliver possessions. In the case of Unitech, 19,000 homebuyers have accused the company over fund diversion and appealed to the corporate affairs ministry and finally, the case is under National Company Tribunal Law under the Companies Act. The Supreme Court has stayed the move following an appeal by Unitech.

–LNN (Liyans News Network)– Find all latest updates on realty market on this leading property portal in Kolkata. Buy/Sell/Rent real estate units across 100+ cities from India.

New Real Estate Marketing Trends in 2018

For a long real estate market in India is awaited for a complete restoration. While an increased market price and unreliable market sentiment made the buyers fence-sitters, policy changes and structural reforms made the slowdown even nutrient. Right now, real estate market is betting big on 2018 to have a modified arrangement with better transparency. It requires a modification in the marketing strategies of the developers to bring in complete standardization in the real estate business practice as the developers need to dispense their on-hand inventories for making their financial ranking stable as well as speeding up the overall market sales.

First things first– buyers are no longer gullible. They know about all the forums and platforms to be knocked while having a quick and effective redressal. Thus, developers need to uphold the quality and the actual offerings of the buildings rather than focusing on marketing strategies. For real estate purchase buyers have a comprehensive, online market study before visiting the seller/agent. Followed by the overall change in market behaviour real estate companies have to adapt to the changing market demands. Online promotion is an effective marketing strategy for the builders. Through all their online promotional activities an approach should be innovative enough to hook up the buyers.

Here are potential new trends that might replace the traditional marketing strategies in this year–

Personalization of property– People are running out of time these days. So a property seeker likes to visit multiple projects in a single day. Thus, developers should adopt Personalized messages or images of the property in order to leave a positive and unique impact on the buyers’ mind.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Emerging market behaviour– With so many power boosters “affordable housing sector” is showing the prospect of growth. As government needs to provide 2 million low budget homes by 2022, developers will have a huge investment opportunity lies before them. Thus, they need to employ both the online and offline marketing channels to pull the mass target audience.

Brand videos on YouTube– Visual media platforms have a huge role-play in luring buyers. It takes just a few minutes for a video to get viral. Nothing is more effective than a 360° property video to attract the prospective buyers.

Sponsored events– Sponsored events and more collaboration with the related industries are majorly required for brand development and reach to the buyers.

Emotional connect with the brand image– No advertisement with an emotional backdrop has succeeded ever for brand image establishment. The uniqueness of the proposition attracts the buyers the most. Unconventional advertisements are the biggest crowd-pullers.

“It’s not easy to distract the buyers with over-sized promises against an average offering. Effective marketing strategy along with honest offering is the mantra of ruling the market. Either one of these can’t be taken for granted,”- said Mr Mahesh Somani, Chairman- National RERA Committee, National Association of Realtors India (NAR-INDIA).

–LNN (Liyans News Network)– Buy property in Kolkata. Check out available residential/commercial offerings of the city and suburbs. Buy/Sell/Rent properties across 100+ cities in India. Currently showcasing 8 lac+ real estate listing.

Essential Facts About GST For Homebuyers

Indian market got acquainted with the Goods and Services Tax or GST on July 1, 2017. The unified tax regime has subsumed all existing indirect taxes into a single tax. However, Real Estate is a sector which will yet to be entirely brought under the new taxation regime. Experts believe that inclusion of real estate into GST ambit might prove to be a game changer for the sector. GST will absorb multiple indirect taxes into one single payable and thereby it will reduce the construction cost significantly.

Homebuyers are likely to be benefited with the better transparency as there will be a single tax to be paid on the real estate purchase. Let’s have a look at the GST impact on various aspects of home buying-

Luxury properties to be more expensive– The raw materials those are used at large in the development of luxury housing projects such as- glass, aluminium, monuments stones, ceramic fittings and lamps etc. will fall under 18-28% GST slab which is higher than the previous tax slabs. A higher tax rate will escalate the cost of the construction.

GST on under construction projects– The effective GST rate on under construction properties is 12%, but along with the stamp duty and the registration charges, it will be something around 17%.

No GST has been levied on ready-to-move projects which means investing in these projects won’t fetch you any tax benefits under the new taxation regime.

Impact on raw materials– The revised tax regime has brought a significant change in the pricing of the building materials. Developers can claim input tax benefits on the purchased raw materials now. While some of the construction materials will cost higher, there are certain materials which will cost lesser now. Here’s a comparative tax rate chart with respect to the major construction materials pricing-

Construction material Pre-GST tax rate GST rate
Cement 24 % 28%
Ceramic tiles 26% 28%
Paints and varnishes 26% 28%
Sand lime and fly-ash bricks 6% 5%
Pillars and iron rods 20% 18%
Putty and wall fittings 26% 28%
Wall paper 18.5% 28%
Plaster 26% 28%

“Potential homebuyers should know these facts about GST so that they can have the maximum tax benefits while purchasing their dream homes. Developers are asked to pass on the input tax benefits to the end-users by the GST Council which will be very much favourable from the buyers’ standpoint,”- said Mahesh Somani, Chairman- National RERA Committee,  National Association of Realtors India (NAR-INDIA).

–LNN (Liyans News Network) – Buy/Sell/Rent properties across 100+ cities in India. If you are willing to buy flats in Kolkata, choose your favourite project from an extensive 72,000+ projects available. Invest now to avail 8-12% GST benefit.