New policy gives realtors joint development rights

The Haryana government will now allow real estate companies to hold joint development and marketing rights for projects that do not entail a change in land use to anything other than what it was originally granted for. 

In other words, if a licence has been granted to develop a group housing society, then two or more builders can come together to jointly develop and market only a group housing society. 

The new policy has been brought by the Department of Town and Country Planning after repeated requests from builders, additional chief secretary P Raghavendra Rao told TOI on Tuesday. It came into effect on February 18. Experts believe this move will be in the interest of homebuyers because it will help complete projects slowed down by cost constraints on time as realty firms can collaborate and share resources. 

Rao said builders had repeatedly approached the DTCP seeking joint rights, citing both delays in completion of projects and starting new ones, particularly in instances where actual costs exceeded estimates. He also said this was a “change in beneficial interest” of the existing developer and “policy parameters to enable decisions on such requests needed to be prescribed”. 

Under this policy, real estate companies must seek permission from the director-general, DTCP, in all cases that pertain to assignment of joint development rights and marketing rights or making alterations to the shareholding pattern of a project if the share variation is more than 25% from the time the licence was granted. 

“All requests for change in beneficial interest for a licenced project shall be examined on merits and depending on the nature of the request, the applicant builder may be directed to comply with certain norms, including clearing external and internal development charges within 90 days,” Rao said. 

The policy mandates that the original developer, in whose name the licence is sanctioned, shall continue to be solely responsible for compliance of laws as well as terms of the licence. In case of non-compliance, the approval will automatically lapse.

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