As the country celebrates its 73rd Independence Day, here’s a look at the milestones that have had a lasting impact on India’s Real Estate industry.

From the zamindari system in 1947 to the launch of India’s first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in 2019, the Indian real estate sector has come a long way. In fact, the past few years have witnessed several challenges and have also been quite eventful for the Indian property market. While old archaic laws and practices have been rooted out, new ones like the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code have led the way, in safeguarding home buyers’ interest and investment. On India’s 73rd Independence Day, here is a snapshot of the events that has made Indian real estate what it is today.

Enactment of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act

After years of discussion and speculation, the real estate regulatory authority finally took shape in India’s property market, with the intention to regulate developers, brokers and safeguard home buyers. The Telangana-RERA came into force in September 2018 and mandated all builders and property agents to register with the regulatory authority. Under the law, every state authority will have an adjudicating bench and appellate tribunal, to hear home buyers’ complaints. Now, the centre is planning to create a unified online portal, for all state Real Estate regulatory authorities, to simplify the process further.

Launch of REITs

It was in March 2019, when India’s first real estate investment trust (REIT) by Embassy Office Parks, was listed. Its launch has brought fresh hopes into the cash-strapped Real Estate sector. With the help of these publicly listed trusts, investors with small ticket sizes can invest in real estate, instead of investing in company shares or bonds. At present, REITs are allowed only for commercial Real Estate. REITs are expected to fuel the demand for office spaces, from sectors IT/ITeS, banking and financial services institutions, logistics, manufacturing and consumer goods.

GST replaces VAT and Service Tax

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced in July 2017, which replaced the Value Added Tax (VAT) and service tax on under-construction property. Initially, a GST of 18% was levied on real estate with input tax credit, which was subsequently brought down to 5% for regular housing projects and 1% for affordable housing projects, in March 2019. The GST also helped the exchequer, as it became easier to track transactions and the money trail in project construction. As multiple taxes are subsumed within the GST, it is hoped that this will reduce developers’ construction costs, along with a reduction in cost of logistics.

PMAY: Impetus to affordable housing and Housing For All

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) was launched in June 2015, to provide affordable housing to every family in India. Under the PMAY, over 2 crore houses are to be built in urban and rural areas. Under the mission, four different kind of schemes were offered, covering the economically weaker sections, lower income groups and middle-income group families. Several government authorities and developers are now extending benefits of the PMAY to home buyers, offering interest subsidy and other financial benefits.

Draft Model Tenancy Act

The Urban Development Ministry has introduced the Draft Model Tenancy Act in the public domain. This law, when implemented, is intended to safeguard the interests of tenants and landlords. This was the first time that rental housing was put on the agenda, by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in Budget 2019. Even though the policy is not binding on states/UTs, as land is a state subject under the Indian constitution, this could be a way ahead for those people who do not see home ownership as a goal. Also, the policy does not have any retrospective effect, which means existing rental contracts remain outside the purview of the policy.

Pointing out that Hyderabad’s existing outer ring road could not cater to future traffic, hence Telangana Government developing a regional ring road on the other side of the existing outer ring road, in Hyderabad. The proposed ring road will be developed on par with international standards.

There will be increase of commuters from every nook and corner, regularly to Hyderabad, as saying. As the existing outer ring road will not be adequate for the floating traffic in future, the government has decided to construct the regional ring road. The regional ring road would be laid at a stretch of 338 kms, covering Sangareddy-Gajwel-Choutuppal, Mal-Kadthal and Shadnagar–Chevella-Kandi (on the outskirts of Hyderabad).

The width of the road will be 500 ft. The proposed regional ring road should surpass the existing Mumbai-Pune and Ahmedabad-Vadodara express highways. The junction roads connecting Vijayawada, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Nagpur, are to be developed.

The different regions of Hyderabad offer various residential spaces at very competitive prices. South Hyderabad regions like Masheswaram, Kothur and Shadnagar are comparatively considered as the most affordable option to invest in residential property due to the availability of land and is less populated as it is at a farther distance from IT companies. Central and North Hyderabad are populated and are little costlier due to high commercialization and greater business establishment. West Hyderabad is also seeing land price appreciation at a faster rate due to its closeness to IT areas -Madhapur, Gachibowli, Hitec city, etc. Easter Hyderabad

Realty analyst considers Hyderabad as the best city for real estate property investment. Its residential realty sector is broadly considered as low risk and high return avenues, because of its rapid development in education, job prospects, medical facility, ITes, hospitality, and other businesses.

                To buy plots from some of the best regions of Hyderabad for residential land plots which are worth investing contact us

The Sunshine Coast Clean Up Divers (SCCUD) gather once a month in order to clean up plastic from the waterways along the Queensland coast in Australia. This time, they found one particular bit of plastic waste that paints a horrifying picture of our pollution.

The volunteer divers found a KFC bag lodged under a few rocks under eight metres of water. Elliot Peters then sent a picture of the bag to KFC, who looked estimated it was about 30 to 40 years old.

Yes, a plastic bag discarded four decades ago and probably sitting immersed in water for all that time was barely disintegrated.

“It’s hard to say [how long the bag had been there], but obviously you don’t keep a KFC bag lying around and then drop it into the water 40 years later, so it’s obviously been around in the environment somewhere, whether underwater or not,” Peters said. “We hear about how long plastics last, especially as microplastics, but for a plastic bag that wasn’t really thick … and still mainly intact and identifiable and 40 years old.”

We look at some of the basic fire safety provisions that home buyers can check for, in high-rise buildings, to ascertain whether it is safe for occupation

The Telangana assembly has passed a municipal bill, providing for self-assessment of property tax, demolition of unauthorised constructions and granting of building permissions through online facilities.

The Telangana assembly, on July 19, 2019, passed a municipal bill, which proposes citizen-friendly initiatives, such as self-assessment of property tax and tough measures including disqualification of elected members, for failure to ensure survival of 85% of plants under the green drive. The Telangana Municipalities Bill, 2019, also provides for demolition of unauthorised constructions without notice and building permissions through online facility, for buildings coming up on an area of up to 500 sq metres, with a height of the ceiling at 10 metres.

“If an unauthorised construction is started, no notice will be given, it will be demolished. It will be an immediate demolition, in case of unauthorised construction,” chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who moved the bill, said. The bill also provides for self-certification for paying property tax. It proposes a penalty of up to 25 times, if a landlord is found to have furnished wrong information. The veracity of the claims would be checked by flying squads, under the supervision of district collectors. Rao also announced that the urban poor can construct a house (ground plus one floor) on a small plot, without having to apply for permission from the municipality. They would have to pay a house tax of only Rs 100 per annum. Such beneficiaries, however, must register with the municipality at a nominal charge of Re 1 in order to get civic facilities, he said. He said new door numbers would be given to each house, which would have a QR code. This would be useful for, among others, in prevention of crimes, he said.

Saying that ‘oxygen clubs’ were coming up in Hyderabad, Rao stressed the need to promote greenery. According to the bill, one of the responsibilities of the municipal chairperson, is to constitute a green cell and earmark 10% of funds in the budget and take up plantation as decided by the district-level committee, headed by the district collector. The chairperson needs to take up plantation in his/her ward and ensure survival of 85% of such plantations. The municipal ward member or designated special officer can be removed from their posts, if they fail to ensure survival of 85% of plantations.

There would be only municipalities and municipal corporations and no other urban local bodies. The number of municipalities and municipal corporations in the state would be 128 and 13, respectively.

What is the basic legal due diligence that a property buyer must do, to safeguard one’s investment and ensure clear title to the property? I explain…

These “Good Morning” messages are often sent with a lot of emotions attached, and hence it’s very difficult to avoid them but there are a few ways you can deal with such a situation without offending any of your relatives or friends.

One out of three Android phones in India slow down or show the “storage is low” message in the notification bar because of those superbly annoying “Good Morning” messages that pop up on phones almost every single day. We are not saying this, although every WhatsApp user in India has experienced it. This is what a survey by data-storage firm Western Digital Corporation finds.

1. The best way to deal with the Good Morning messages on WhatsApp is to simply not download the image or the media file you receive. We know that WhatsApp auto downloads the media files you receive – be it audio, video or even a picture, this, in turn, consumes maximum storage space of your phone. In this case, you can unselect the auto download option on WhatsApp. To do that, you can go to Settings > Data and storage usage > you will see three options under Media auto-download – When using mobile data, when connected on Wi-Fi and When roaming – put all three options to “No Media”. After this, you will be able to download only the files that you want and ignore the rest.
2. There are people who want to download these good morning messages, but then they also have a storage issue. To deal with such instances, Google has recently introduced an app called Files Go app which is basically focused on helping users free up storage space on their devices. The Files Go app is available on Google Play store for download. What you can do here is that you can download all those Good Morning messages, but then once a week clean the phone by deleting all these messages in one go. The Files Go app allows that. Every week, just open the app, select the WhatsApp media folder and empty it.
3. Ideally, you should turn off the “blue tick” option so that the sender doesn’t know whether or not you have read the messages. What this does is that it helps you avoid replying to a message. There are times (based on my personal experience itself) that your relatives expect you to reply to the Good morning messages they send.
4. If you receive these good morning messages from unwanted contacts, say someone you had met long ago – at some party and shared your number with, well, blocking the person is the best way out. And if you don’t wish to be rude enough to anyone by blocking them, there’s another simple way, simply send a message saying – “don’t send such messages to me” or you can educate them on if they continue doing the same, they may face the storage issue as well.
5. In case you are a part of a family group, the best way to ignore these unwanted messages is to mute the group, and unmute it whenever required. For example, you can mute the group for 8 hours in morning or late night. That can do the trick.

The government levies a compulsory tax on the transfer of rights by way of sale, inheritance, gift etc., in a property, known as ‘stamp duty’. It is levied on residential and commercial property transactions, as well as freehold or leasehold properties. Stamp duty is levied by states and therefore, the rate varies from state to state.

Stamp duty calculator

Stamp duty ranges from three per cent to 10 per cent, depending on the slab decided by the particular state. The onus of paying the stamp duty, normally vests on the buyer of the property.

Stamp duty is calculated on the higher value, between the ready reckoner rate (circle rate) and the agreement value of property. For example, if the agreement value of a property is Rs 50 lakhs and the value according to the ready reckoner rate is Rs 40 lakhs, then, the stamp duty would be calculated on the higher value, i.e., Rs 50 lakhs.

The stamp duty percentage depends on several factors, such as:

• Status of the property – whether it is old or new.
• Location of the property – city area, rural area, metropolitan area, suburban, etc.
• Age of the owner – discounts may be available for senior citizens, in some states.
• Gender of the owner – some states also offer concessions for female real estate owners.
• Usage of property – whether it is for commercial use or residential use.
• Type of property – flat or an independent house, etc.

How is stamp duty paid?

There are three ways to pay the stamp duty – through non-judicial stamp paper, by franking method or by using the e-stamping method.

Under the non-judicial stamp paper method, the agreement details are mentioned in such paper and it is signed by the executants. Thereafter, within four months, it is required to be registered at the sub-registrar’s office.

Under the franking method, the agreement is printed on plain paper. This paper is submitted to an authorised bank, which processes the documents through a franking machine.

In some of the states, you can also pay the requisite stamp duty amount online, through RTGS/NEFT. Thereafter, the stamp duty certificate, with details such as the date, stamp duty type, etc., can be downloaded for the registration process.

What happens, if you pay inadequate stamp duty?

In some cases, for saving stamp duty, people show an undervalued property price, in the agreement. The government suffers revenue loss, due to such tax evasion.

If you pay inadequate stamp duty, then, you can be penalised heavily for the evasion. The punishment and penalty for stamp duty evasion, may vary from state to state. The penalty can range from eight per cent to 20 per cent of the actual stamp duty, with minimum penalty limits and imprisonment for certain periods, as per the state’s rules.

How to save on stamp duty charges?

Some states provide significant discounts on the stamp duty, for female realty buyers. So, if you are looking to save on stamp duty, you can purchase the property in the name of any female family member. If you have shortlisted several locations for your property purchase, you can compare the stamp duty charges in the various loalign=”justify”cations, to decide which location offers the lowest stamp duty value.

The real estate fraternity has also been demanding that affordable housing be exempt from stamp duty charges. If this happens, buyers in this segment can save a substantial amount. Sometimes, developers agree to bear the cost of stamp duty and registration charges. However, you need to be careful that you do not get charged for it in indirect ways.

                Investments in land property, residential plot are considered profitable options for a long-term perspective in India as well as across the world. Keeping this kind of popular interests of the masses, the Indian government has been proposing various policies like Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) to bring in favorable changes in real estate sector.

                The low priced plots for sale in Hyderabad are mostly preferred options as it allows a greater scope for price appreciation in less time. In India, compared to all other states Telangana has shown remarkable growth in a few years after its separation from Andhra Pradesh. With the government’s comprehensive development plans, most of its major cities – Hyderabad, Warangal, Kurnool, etc. are growing rapidly. Among all Hyderabad is the most popular city for its infrastructural developments, connectivity, affordability and availability of vast land.

                Realty analyst considers Hyderabad as the best city for real estate property investment. Its residential realty sector is broadly considered as low risk and high return avenues, because of its rapid development in education, job prospects, medical facility, ITes, hospitality, and other businesses.

                The different regions of Hyderabad offer various residential spaces at very competitive prices. South Hyderabad regions like Masheswaram, Kothur and Shadnagar are comparatively considered as the most affordable option to invest in residential property due to the availability of land and is less populated as it is at a farther distance from IT companies. Central and North Hyderabad are populated and are little costlier due to high commercialization and greater business establishment. West Hyderabad is also seeing land price appreciation at a faster rate due to its closeness to IT areas -Madhapur, Gachibowli, Hitec city, etc. Easter Hyderabad

                To buy plots from some of the best regions of Hyderabad for residential land plots which are worth investing contact us