The apartment
culture is of recent origin and has become very popular. This type of group
housing is not alien to the human culture.Earlier people used to live on riverbanks in groups sharing common
facilities.
In the early
twentieth century Bangalore was known for such group housing but in a different
manner.Group housing popularly known as “Vatara” was very common in Bangalore
where small dwelling units were constructed in a single compound and families
lived in perfect harmony and unison.The Vatara, used to be horizontal or L
shaped with single storey buildings where as the apartments are vertical with multistoried
buildings.
In Bangalore in the
early seventies, the first Apartment constructed was Shalimar Apartment. In the
early eighties Apartment culture began to show its presence in Malleshwaram.
Apartment Culture is rapidly picking up, Bangalore now has nearly 400 players
who have arrived on the scene to promote various Apartment Projects including
many on the outskirts of Bangalore. According to a survey, during 97-98 nearly
10,000 flats were lying unsold. Now the situation has changed. An established
Promoter can easily sell all the flats within a few days after completing the Bhoomi
Pooja.
Advantages
Flats have certain
advantages when compared to independent houses. Community living offers
security and certain amenities and facilities, which an individual cannot
afford and which can be shared with other occupants as common facilities at
minimal cost. Facilities like gym, recreational center, swimming pool, sauna;
Jacuzzi, full-fledged security, clubhouses, sports and games come at nominal
cost. Generally Apartments have Owners Residents Association, which attend to
the problems of the residents and carryout repairs.
The purchaser of a
flat need not worry about issues like obtaining plan sanctions, finding a
contractor, supervising the construction, getting water, power, sanitary
connection and other related formalities, which the Developer takes care.
Purchaser may have the interior done according to his needs on payment of some
additional fee.
Sanctioning
Authority
With respect to
sanctioning of plans, the various approving authorities have powers with some
restrictions. The village panchayat cannot approve a plan of a multistoried
building; they can approve the ground and first floor. The city municipal
council can approve a plan of ground and three floors, like wise the Bangalore
City Corporation too have some restrictions on approval of plans. High Rise
Building Complex or a Building more than 8000 sq.ft of land and any building
plans exceeding the prescribed height has to be approved by Town Planning
Authority. It must be kept in mind that any massive violation of the sanction
plan will face the threat of demolition of the buildings at the future date.
It is also
necessary to ascertain whether the building has complied with the Floor Area
Ratio (FAR), that is, total built up area permitted on the plot with prescribed setbacks - vacant space that is left around the building.
Financial
institutions are currently offering long-term loans at a very low interest
rate. Housing finance companies and banks also prefer financing the flats as
multiple beneficiaries live in a single compound and it would be easy for them
to follow up and need not spend much on legal formalities.
Any high rise
structure should have clearance from BWSSB, BESCOM, FIRE FORCE, TELEPHONE
DEPARTMENT and also from the AIRPORT AUTHORITY OF INDIA.
Disadvantage
No doubt, there are
certain disadvantages also, most important is the lack of privacy which is
available in independent houses, where the resident is the king of the house
and has unlimited freedom. The owner of a flat cannot have additional
construction and alteration, even in order to repair a leak on the ceiling one
has to obtain the permission of the association and the person living on the
upper floor. Whereas, in the case of an independent house, the owner may add additional construction as per his
requirements and let out the same to supplement his income without any
hindrance.
Generally local
people prefer independent houses. The resale value of flats is less, since the
building gets depreciated and demolishing a flat and reconstructing it is also
not possible. In case of independent houses, though the building gets
depreciated, the land value appreciates. If necessary the old building may be
demolished for new construction. Then the resale value of an independent house is always more. Flat owners
have to pay monthly maintenance charges, which at times will be equal to or
quarter or half the value of rents paid to a house, depending upon the
amenities provided.
Process of Purchase
The purchaser of a
flat has to take into account the location of the flat, its proximity to civic
amenities and also select the builder according to their track record. It is
always advisable to visit some of the projects completed by the builder before
booking a flat.
Verification of the
title of the property is one of the important aspects of purchase of property.
Though the builder provides legal certificate from their advocate, the
purchaser should always independently get the title verified by his own
Advocate. Only advocates with a minimum of 7 years of experience are eligible to
issue legal opinion for the apartment to the Developer as per the Karnataka
Apartment Act.
If the property is
sold by a general power of attorney holder, verify the terms of GPA and whether
the owner who has given the GPA is surviving or not, should also be checked.
Validity of the
GPA, Joint Venture and other Title deeds are most important factors that should
be kept in mind. Agreement with the developer should contain the ownership
details, sale price, payment schedule, Specifications of the construction, car
park details, undivided share of land, common amenities, Penalty clause for
both parties, what are the other deposit charges, Registration charges, Sales
Tax as applicable or not, etc., should be mentioned in the Agreement. Further,
it must also contain the layout plan, sketch of your portion of the apartment,
with specifications, date of commencement of construction work, date of handing
over of the apartment, penalty for delayed construction and payment defaults,
no escalation clause, guarantee for the quality of construction and
construction materials used.
Conveyance/Sale
Deed
After completion of
the apartment construction the sale deed should be executed by the vendor of
the land and the Promoters jointly as per the understanding. The sale deed must
also mention the duties and responsibilities of the buyer and the seller, the
purchaser has to pay the required stamp duty and complete the registration
formalities. Registered sale deed is the main document that confers on you the
ownership of the flat. On the basis of the sale deed the Revenue authority
issues documents of title like the khatha Certificate, khatha Endorsement,
khatha Extract and Tax paid receipts.
Price of a flat is
determined, based on the various factor like location, specification of the
work, carpet area and percentage of Super Built Area.
Undivided Share of
Land
When
you purchase an apartment you are entitled to an undivided share in the total
land area. The undivided share depends upon the built up area of the apartment
and the land area. As the built up area increases the undivided share decreases
and vice versa.
Undivided share of
land should be arrived in the following manner:
Built up area of
the flat divided by the total built up area multiplied by hundred. If the built
up area of the flat is 1000 sq. ft. and the total built up area of the
apartment block is 10000 sq. ft., then the percentage of undivided share is:
1000 ÷ 10,000 x 100 = 10%. The area of undivided share is: area of the
apartment divided by total built up area multiplied by area of land, i.e. 1000
÷ 10000 x super built area 3000 = 300 Sq.ft.
undivided share of land.
Share Certificate
Method
Purchase of the
flat by share certificate method is very popular in Maharashtra. A registered Co-op. Societies acquires land,
constructs flats which are allotted to its members; whereas in Karnataka, the
share certificate method is not accepted by general public, financial
institutions, State Government, etc. Karnataka Government is of the view that
individual flats should be registered by regular conveyance. When tracing the title of this type of share
certificate method, verification of the society record, its byelaws and share
certificates is very important.
Super Built-Up Area
You must also know
what certain areas are called with reference to a building. From the floor area
ratio and site area, we can work out the total constructed area. Plinth Area is
the total area of construction. This includes all the floors as well as the
wall thickness. Carpet area is the area inside the constructed building between
the walls and the area actually usable. Super built up area is the saleable
area generally applicable to apartments. This includes the wall thickness,
projected common areas and the set back area.
Certain promoters will adopt certain methods to arrive at more Super
built up area to reduce the sale price.
The purchaser should be very cautious about the Super built area, on
which the price of flat is determined. Super built up area consists of actual
flat area plus proportionate area of common areas like staircase cum verandah,
balcony and other common areas etc. Carpet area, is the area available for actual residing.
Generally super built up area should not be more than 25% of the carpet area.
Apartment
Owners’ Association
After the
construction and handing over of flats, the owners of apartments form an
association to take care of the needs of the residents and to upkeep of the
common areas. The builder must hand over detailed drawings of electrical
wiring, piping and drainage system to the association. The builder must also
hand over all original Documents of the Title and Sale deed to the Association,
including plan, drawings etc., as without proper drawings, it would be
difficult for the association to maintain the apartment building.
The building should
have lift facility. One has to examine the provision for water supply and
sanitary connection. In many cases, though bore wells are drilled, the yield is
much less. So the residents have to purchase water from outside agencies at exorbitant
costs.
The apartment must
strictly adhere to the building byelaws. It must comply with all rules and
regulations laid down by the pollution control board, corporation or
municipality, housing development board and other authorities. Violation of
laws will create great problems for the occupants of the apartment block.
At the time of
commencement, the builder should have obtained work commencement certificate
and occupation certificate, at the end of the completion of construction, from
the authority, which sanctioned the plan.
These
are the general important points one should look into before purchasing a flat.
Right choice of the builder is very important. Do not go by glossy
advertisements and tall claims. There are many reputed builders in the field
with impressive track records. Choose one of the good developers to satisfy
your needs.
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