Sunday, May 26, 2013

FSI NORMS FOR REDEVELOPMENT ACROSS MUMBAI

FSI NORMS FOR REDEVELOPMENT ACROSS MUMBAI
FSI or Floor Space Index means the area of construction allowed on a particular plot of land as per the Development Control Rules. In Mumbai, the permitted FSI varies in various locations depending upon the land and type of existing residence whether a Slum, Tenanted, MHADA, Cluster or a Co-operative Society and also the project to be redeveloped.

As per Development Control Rules 33(7) of Mumbai, in the case of cess building, every tenant who is having less than 300 sq ft carpet area shall be given minimum of 300 sq ft ownership flat and the tenants having 300 to 753 sq. ft area, the existing area. Any area above 753 sq. feet will not be granted to the tenants.

Of course, the maximum ceiling was 2.5 Floor Space Index (FSI) under this category of buildings. Many of the old buildings in areas like Girgaum, Grant Road, Parel, Byculla, Dadar were not becoming viable under the above rules and therefore, the government took a decision to increase the same to 3 FSI. This has now encouraged the landowners and developers to come forward and redevelop such buildings.
For information, the cess building is one where the landlords of tenanted buildings do not care to maintain the same in case of need, have been taken over by the Mumbai Repair and Reconstruction Board for maintenance by charging a nominal amount as repair cess every month.

In case of redevelopment of plots under the above category, the builder gets incentive FSI of 50% or 60% of FSI over and above the FSI consumed to re-house the existing tenants. In such cases FSI goes beyond 6 or 7. There is no limit. For MHADA layout, the FSI is 2.5. In case of projects approved by MMRDA in Mumbai Metropolitan Region other than Mumbai under Rental Housing scheme, the FSI allowed is 4.
In other words, now in suburbs, private buildings will get 2.7 FSI including fungible and in cess buildings and slums FSI of 4.05 (335% of 3) including fungible will be available. The fungible FSI now can be included in the flat and thus the area of the flat will go up. Therefore, redevelopment activities are in full swing with every other building surrounded by tins.

Further, under the amended DCR effective from 06/01/2012, a developers will be getting fungible FSI of 35% free of premium to the existing tenants and on sale portion 35% fungible FSI by paying a premium. The fungible FSI can be included in the flat and thus the flat area can be further increased.
The existing flat owners and in the other redevelopment like slum, cess buildings etc, the existing tenants will be given fungible FSI for construction free of FSI and on the sale portion, the developer has to pay the premium of 60% of the Ready Reckoner Rate for residential construction area of Fungible FSI and for commercial 80% of the Ready Reckoner Rate as the premium.

With regard to the FSI allowed for slum related projects, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has declared certain areas occupied by slum as the land on which SRA scheme can be redeveloped in which the existing occupiers in slum gets 269 sq ft carpet area free of charge with a restrictive clause that they should have been settled in such slum before 1995. There is a proposal to relax the said clause that the term of settling down in such slum may be extended to 2000. However, the confirmation to this effect is awaited.

The state government has formally increased the floor space index (FSI) for slum rehabilitation projects from 2.5 to a maximum of 4.
The state urban development department issued a notification under section 154 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act (MRTP), 1966 stating that projects involving all high-density slums-those having over 650 tenements per hectare-are entitled to an FSI of 4, whereas those with lower tenement density are entitled to 3. Senior officials from the urban development department said that the notification highlights that all procedural formalities concerning the higher FSI move are now complete.

FSI is a development tool that determines the extent of construction permitted on a plot. It is a ratio of permissible built-up to the total area of the plot. A higher FSI would allow developers additional construction on slum land. As per the notification, approvals for redevelopment projects with higher tenement density will be cleared by the state government. The Slum Rehabilitation Authority retains powers to approve schemes with lower tenement density.

Dilip Shah
Senior Counselor and Analyst for Redevelopment of Housing Societies and Society Laws
9819825752, 32411533
www.redevelopmentofhousingsocieties.com
www.redevelopmentofhousingsociety.com



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Friday, January 11, 2013

Senior Counselor and Analyst for Redevelopment of Housing Societies and Society Laws


                               REDEVELOPMENT OF HOUSING SOCIETIES
We are experienced and Senior Counselors and Analysts for Redevelopment of Housing Societies and Society Laws since last many years with in-depth study of integral techniques and are exclusively skilled in the various areas of Redevelopment of Housing Societies and Society Laws. The Resident Members / Managing Committee Members of Housing Societies gain valuable insights about the fundamental guiding principle of various laws applicable in the process of redevelopment.
Our professional competence in the field of redevelopment is the outcome of skilled application of our knowledge and expertise. This includes interviewing and counselling skills, negotiation and mediation skills, research and writing skills, communication and advocacy skills, drafting skills, fact gathering and articulation skills, time and stress management skills, etc. all of which can be acquired through our guidance on entire process of redevelopment supported by theoretical learning.

It is indeed our pleasure to introduce our exceptionally unique websites distinctively designed to educate the adolescent Members, Managing Committees and Tenants of thousands of Co-operative Housing Societies and Tenanted Buildings who like to learn what is redevelopment and its built-in intricacies. The addresses of our two websites are as under:


With prior appointment on 9819825752 or 32411533, our consultancy slots of two hours for the Meetings are from 12.00 noon to 2.00 p.m. and in the evening from 6.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. on all the days of the week (Including Sundays and Holidays). If you wish to avail our services, call on us between 12.00 noon and 2.00 p.m. or in the evening between 6.00 p.m. and 8.00 p.m. for an appointment.   

We hold direct interaction with the Resident Members / Managing Committee Members / Tenants on the various parameters that are involved in Redevelopment of Housing Societies and solve most of their problems / provide adequate direction to represent their cases to various authorities. At present, we have around 70 to 80 Housing Societies including Cessed / Non-Cessed Buildings from Western / Central Suburbs and South Mumbai on our scroll that regularly avail our services at any point of need.
We are well practiced in major laws such as Transfer of Property Act, 1882, Registration Act, 1908, Indian Contract Act, 1872, CRZ laws, State laws like Maharashtra Ownership Flats (Regulation of Promotion of Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer) Act, 1963, Maharashtra Co-operative Housing Societies Act, 1960, Stamp Duty Laws, Development Control Rules, Environmental Law, Tree Cutting Laws, Municipal Laws, Slum Redevelopment Scheme etc.
If there are serious irregularities in the process of redevelopment and when they are noticed halfway, they can jeopardize the redevelopment and the consequences can be severe as what the law does not permit, cannot be done either by the Builder / Developer or by the Society.
We are earnestly thankful to our Media Partners Times of India (Times Property), Hindustan Times (HT Estate), Navbharat Times, CW Property, Mumbai Mirror and First Post for awarding suitable coverage to our articles and publishing our expert comments encompassing various features ruling the Redevelopment of Housing Societies and Societies Laws.
The most important factors that bring out the successful results in any project of redevelopment and they are 1) The selection of correct Builder / Developer and 2) The precise drafting of legal documents governing the entire process of redevelopment.
The Housing Societies often get confused about choosing the best or right or so to say, one HONEST BUILDER / DEVELOPER. There are many cases where the dreams of Members of the Housing Societies are crashed when the terms of Development Agreement are breached and time schedule of completion of project is not maintained by such insatiable Builders / Developers.
There are types of voracious Builders / Developers of III tire who have abandoned or have delayed the redevelopment projects due to various reasons mainly due to paucity of inflow or diversion of funds from the assigned projects in order to acquire / pocket more and more projects beyond their financial means or are simply not capable to execute them due to lack of competency and precision.
Since the redevelopment of a property is an exigent issue now a days with offending Builders / Developers and their felonious and offending treats to inexperienced Managing Committees of Housing Societies, we especially impress our Client Societies to be vigilant on the issues like Delivery Delays, Broken Promises, Breach of Trust, Cheating, Unfair Trade Practice, Deficiency in Service, Abandonment of Redevelopment Projects half way, Corruption and Malpractice to pocket the Redevelopment Assignment, Illegal Constructions, Violation of Acts, Laws and Rules etc.   

Redeveloping a home is a major decision for the lifetime and one would not want to take chances. It is said that till you do not leave your Society, you are the KING. The day on which you handover your property to the Builder / Developer for redevelopment and leave your Society, the Builder / Developer is the KING.   

Our articles are published by numerous websites on Internet for the benefit of Housing Societies in Mumbai to educate their Members and caution them to be cautious from irregularities and illegalities in redevelopment by the Builders / Developers, targeting the naïve and innocent Members by major numbers of corrupt Managing Committees, Rampant Corruption in BMC, Flagrant violation of Rules and Regulations by the Builders / Developers and how to beware of Cheat and Fraud Builders / Developers and their dishonest acts.

We are well equipped with almost all the areas with regular updates of latest developments in Realty Sector and provide an exclusive knowledge to tackle unresolved problems and solutions for successful and winning completion of redevelopment projects which is a dream of the day for any middle class family man. However, there are numerous factors / questions that arise during the ongoing process of redevelopment and they are to be taken care of diligently by seeking advice / counseling from Redevelopment Experts who are abundantly conversant with Laws of Redevelopment.
We persistently endeavor our best by updating our website periodically to cater the unsurpassed knowledge of various aspects of redevelopment and unique articles written with exclusively powerful, precise and easy-to-understand content for every individual.
We request our beloved patrons of all Housing Societies / Apartment Owners / Cessed and Non Cessed Buildings in their apex interest to regularly visit / revisit our websites and stay updated on latest features covering up-to-the-minute topics including Govt. Policies on Realty Sector related to redevelopment.

A Redevelopment Agreement, as the name suggests, is Principal Agreement executed for the redevelopment of an old building, between the Office Bearers of Managing Committee / Landlords and the Builder / Developer. But it's not as simple as it sounds; the Housing Societies / Landlords need to exercise necessary caution to ensure that the residents' corporate interest is safeguarded.

The legal documents concerning the redevelopment projects are essentially to be precise and leaving no room for any ambiguity on the agreed terms. Documents drafted meticulously ensure that the parties truly agree on the contents and prevent future disputes caused by differing interpretations of the document. Drafting / Vetting of legal documents accurately is our privileged skill requiring close attention to terms and conditions to be documented in favour of the Society.

While it is easy to draft terms addressing the primary purpose of a legal document, the best documents anticipate all those possible events that might interfere with the client’s intent. We anticipate these events to help our Client Societies / Landlords to determine and arrest such eventualities in documentation.

We are well adept in Laws governing the Redevelopment of Housing Societies and distinctly experienced in DRAFTING / VETTING /  ANALYZING / SCRUTINY and INSPECTION of documents like Feasibility Reports, Tender Documents, Draft of Memorandum of Understanding, Development Agreement, Power of Attorney, Bank Guarantee and Individual Agreement to be executed with each member of the Society that are generally provided by the Builders / Developers to the Housing Societies which are drafted in a manner to provide escape areas / full protection to the Builders / Developers by neglecting the vital terms and conditions protecting the interest of the Society.
The venture of redevelopment of any property involves a massive volume of multi-crores of rupees as also the fate and future of all the Resident Members of the Society. Once the property is handed over to the Builder / Developer, the Society has only legal documents in their hand to rely upon, in case of any adverse situation in accomplishing the successful task of the redevelopment. Our approach in respect of drafting / analyzing all the legal documents pertaining to the redevelopment is scientific and systematic.
After precise and meticulous study, these drafts after methodically vetted, scanned and scrutinized theoretically by us and the gray areas / pitfalls and shortfalls are exposed and a written report is given to our Client Society apprising them the areas of alerts and awareness and impress upon the Builder / Developer to include / provide due coverage before finalizing all the legal documents of redevelopment in corporate interest and safety of the Societies to achieve the desired results.
The Housing Societies must study and understand and try to forestall the pitfalls under Financial / Legal and Technical areas to be termed in Development Agreement benefiting the Members as many of these areas are conveniently ignored / not documented in the Development Agreement and we impress upon the Housing Societies to impress upon and compel the Builder / Developer to add those ignored conditions in Development Agreement in the corporate interest of the Society to protect their hard earned homes.

We are prepared to provide in most flawless and impartial manner, our all-round competent consultancy services pertaining to redevelopment project of your Society including required comprehensive guidance online. All our Client Societies in Mumbai and Maharashtra have been successfully benefited by our all-round and timely assistance for successful completion of their redevelopment projects.  

At any point of need, our association with you shall remain online for any legal advice / clarification all the way through which would benefit your Managing Committee while negotiating the consequential and important terms with the Builders / Developers, sorting out multifaceted or intricate issues pertaining to the redevelopment project of your Society.

Dilip Shah
Senior Counselor and Analyst for Redevelopment of Housing Societies and Society Laws