How the New Real Estate Bill Could Help You: 10-Point Cheat-Sheet

The new rules apply to residential and commercial developments.
The bill makes it mandatory for all projects and brokers to be registered with a real estate regulator who will oversee transactions and settle disputes.
The decision by Prime Minister NarendraModi's government to amend the bill, which was submitted by the previous government in 2013 but not passed by the Rajya Sabha, aims to boost investor confidence and stamp out illegal practices.
During recent years, sluggish economic growth and delays in getting approvals stalled several real estate projects, leaving buyers waiting for their homes and developers holding high debt.
"It will lead to more transparency and amature industry," said Rajeev Talwar, executive director at DLF Ltd, India's top real estate developer.
Vendors in the real estate market often demand part payment in black money, making many ordinary people party to corruption and excluding some of the emerging middle class from the market.
A key provision of the amended bill makes it mandatory for developers to put aside 50 per cent of the money collected from buyers during pre-sale of homes, and use that only for funding construction of the project.
Several projects in India have been delayed in recent years after some developers diverted funds raised for one project to another.
That left them out of pocket to complete construction and resulting in buyers still waiting for their homes.
The bill seeks to divert this flow of funds, and impose penalties, including de-registration of the project and other fines in case of a breach.