Urban News

The government has already yielded to pressure from stakeholders and decided to dilute the authority of the regulator, which initially was to have the power to fix the prices of flats.

The government is set to introduce a bill in the monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly, scheduled from July 12, to create the regulator with diluted powers. Before the session begins, the Cabinet will approve it.

“I feel the need to widen the scope of the housing regulator,” Minister of State for Housing Sachin Ahir said. “Instead of confining it to builders and developers, it should also cover agencies like the BMC, MHADA and SRA. It is not just builder versus his client; it should also regulate government agencies.”

He justified the effort to dilute the regulator’s powers to fix prices, saying this would be impractical as adjacent buildings can be priced differently in the market. He said the “ready reckoner” is no longer the basis for calculating real estate rates and if the government empowers the regulator to fix prices, it might lead to litigation. But even without the power to fix prices, he said, the regulator would have enough teeth to control and monitor the housing sector.

The state government, which will be the first in the country to set up such a housing, had released the draft housing policy in November 2006. The proposed regulator would have the powers of a civil court and monitor permission for the use of land for housing, prescribe a quota for low-income groups in a housing project, settle disputes, register builders, promote residential zones and rental housing schemes.