Supreme Court on Real Estate, Housing and Ownership of Flats

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Description
This topic deals primarily with the provision of Housing accommodation/Flats by private developers/cooperative housing societies/private builders. This topic has been selectively pieced together carefully from different areas of law, as there is no one body of law that governs this topic, so crucial to a developing economy, particularly one like India with so many people looking to buy homes and own flats. Detailed cross references have been given to each relevant area of law, so that the reader is aided in making a more detailed and exhaustive search. At the very core of this topic are the Law of Contract and the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, for after all, every Housing transaction/Purchase of a Flat involves a conveyance. However, there is a broad overlay of State statutes (and now RERA, an overarching Central law, but the Supreme Court has not rendered any direct ruling on RERA yet) which govern private developers, colonisers and builders and the provision of Housing/Allotment and Sale of Flats in general. This case law has been represented according to the topic approach, since the principles behind these rulings of the Supreme Court apply across all of India, regardless of which State Statute/Rules they arose under. Since Housing scams have become legion, there is a great deal of case law dealing with this issue. Cooperative Housing Societies play a big role in the manner in which Housing/Flats are provided or managed in India. Hence, all the rulings on this topic have been updated and repeated here. For the complete Supreme Court case law on the topic of Cooperative Societies, the reader may refer to Vol. 13 of the Complete Digest of Supreme Court Cases, 2nd Edn. A crucial related area is the provision of land, most often by land acquisition, by the Government or State Entities to Private Entities for the provision of Housing and Flats. This is a rich area for case law, as often the State Entities will impose conditions on the use of land, particularly in relation to the provision of common amenities/breathing spaces. And again this area is replete with scams, thus rich with case law.
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Contents
1. General Principles
2. Building/Planning Norms
3. Allotment/Sale/Lease/Transfer of Flats/Houses by Builder/Developer
4. Common Areas/Facilities/Appurtenant Rights/Civic/Public Amenities/Infrastructure/Services
5. Cooperative Housing/Housing Society
6. Self-Financing Schemes
7. Construction Workers/Employment Matters
8. Taxation
9. Relief/Remedies/Consumer Jurisdiction
10. Particular Statutes/Norms/Rules/Orders
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Author Details
Surendra Malik
Sudeep Malik