Govt setting up 31-member committee to advise on RERA, protect home buyers

The Centre is setting up a 31-member Central Advisory Council that will advise the government on protecting home buyers' interests, better implementation of the real estate regulation law and ensuring growth in the real estate sector, the Times of India reported on Tuesday. 

According to the national daily, the committee will include secretaries from various ministries, state departments' representatives, home buyers' associations, and construction workers advisory committee. Further, members of builders' association and the Namma Bengaluru Foundation will also be part of the committee, sources told the national daily. 

As reported earlier, six out of ten under-construction projects in Mumbai revised their delivery targets by more than a year after the Real Estate Regulation and Development (RERA) Act, 2016, came into force.

About 57 per cent of projects registered with RERA authority in Maharashtra have extended the delivery timelines, said a survey by property consultant Knight Frank. The report covered residential units registered with the Maharashtra RERA regulator, or the MahaRERA, in the Mumbai suburbs until August 16, 2017. 

RERA came into force on May 1, with the government calling it the beginning of a "new era".

The act specifies that all existing projects must be registered with the state's regulatory authority by July 2017 and that no new project can be launched without this registration.

As reported earlier, under the central law, each state has to notify rules and set up a regulatory authority to manage the real estate sector. The law provides for strict penalties against promoters and builders for not fulfilling promises.

According to industry information, between 2011 and 2015, about 2,349 to 4,488 real estate projects were launched every year amounting to a total of 17,526 projects with a total investment of Rs 13.70 lakh crore in 27 cities, including 15 state capitals.

About one million buyers invest every year with the dream of owning a house.