Introduction
The Maharashtra government has recently announced a
self-development scheme which allows housing societies to take up redevelopment
of their own old buildings, on their own. Buildings in most co-operative societies
are undergoing tremendous wear and tear. This damage is at times superficial
and at times at the structural level. When the damage is superficial, doing minor
repairs will solve the problem and the building will stand for five more years.
However, when there are structural deformities, then major repairs are
necessary. However, if instead of going for major structural repairs, the
society goes in for redevelopment or self-development, the inhabitants will get
a new building to stay in and will also get extra area for self use and for commercial
exploitation.
Why Self Development?
It is true that a majority of buildings in Mumbai are
dilapidated and inhabitable. They have been rendered dangerous for use.
However, society members who do not have the large amount of funds required for
major repairs continue staying in the same building waiting for their fate to
take over. This is because in the balance sheets of most societies, there are
hardly any funds accumulated for major repairs. Moreover, with the passage of
time, their flats have become small for their growing families. This is because
in many instances the second generation of people has taken over from the
oldies.
Also with rising rental costs, redevelopment has become the
obvious choice. Most society members do not have adequate knowledge about
construction and its best practices. They are also ignorant about real estate.
They also lack the financial muscle to seek professional advice on how to
develop their land. Therefore, they have to depend on unscrupulous developers
who are ever ready to oblige them in return for extra FSI, to exploit in the
market. He will sell the extra flats in the market and recover double of what
he has spent on housing the existing tenants. However, lately, builders have
also started feeling the financial squeeze.
This is because their exorbitantly priced flats are not
being sold in the market. Therefore, the developer has started delaying
redevelopment projects and has started diverting those funds to projects where
the flat bookings have been received in advance. This delays society
redevelopment projects inordinately and there is a tussle between the builder
and society members. This leads to a dispute and they seek legal recourse. Here
again, society members have to spend money to seek legal recourse. Therefore, a
new idea has been mooted in which society members can on their own SELF DEVELOP
their own societies with loans given by banks. The bank loan can be paid off by
the society from the proceeds of the sale of extra flats created as a result of
extra FSI that they obtain from the government.
Moreover, they can also get some extra area for self use, for
free. This extra area will be very useful to their ever growing families.
Therefore self development is a necessary remedy for all society members. Self
development is preferred over builder redevelopment because:
·
Mismanagement of the entire project by the
builder
·
Allegations of corrupt practices and underhand
dealings
·
Real estate developers changing building plans
for their vested interests, without informing society members
·
Using the available funds in multiple projects,
resulting in the redevelopment project getting delayed.
·
Projects getting delayed and failing to take
advantage of the real estate prices or to enjoy investor funds
·
Real estate developers tend to usurp common
spaces and sell them for a profit leading to nuisance for society members
Conclusion
Therefore, self development is the one and only solution for
all the troubles of cooperative housing societies who do not have the requisite
funds to conduct major repairs of their buildings and who do not trust
developers with their redevelopment schemes.
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