Govt to Rope in Major Developers to Promote Green Housing in India

With a view to reduce carbon emissions, the government will soon rope in major real estate developers for voluntary adoption of a set of new guidelines on building low energy consuming green housing complexes. The move is part of the government’s national action plan on climate change.

The ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has asked an expert agency set up by it in partnership with The Energy & Resources Institute (Teri) to evolve a set of guidelines on how to build large housing complexes in the most environment friendly and energy efficient way. The new guidelines would include requirements such as meeting about 5% of the energy requirements through renewable sources.

While development of townships is the mandate of the ministry of urban development and partly, the housing ministry and urban poverty alleviation, the proposed green rating for housing complexes is an initiative of MNRE because it is an extension of the projects it is already doing. Officials from other ministries are part of a technical panel of MNRE dealing with green infrastructure for large development. The expert agency—the

Association for Development and Research of Sustainable Habitats or ADARSH—which now gives green ratings for individual buildings, will evolve the new norms for large residential complexes. ‘‘The rating called Griha would be voluntary for builders in the initial few years, after which it could be made compulsory,’’ the rating agency’s CEO Siva Kishan told FE.

The idea is to rope in top five real estate developers to voluntarily adopt the guidelines, which would then set the benchmark for others. The rating agency is now in talks with various developers and the first partnership with a real estate developer may be announced soon, he said. The rating agency is also talking to various state governments for giving incentives to developers to adopt the new norms that would reduce energy consumption and the impact of construction on ground water levels and the environment.

Shiva Kishan said the Maharashtra government is open to reducing property tax for green buildings as an incentive, while some other states are open to let builders construct more floors if they follow green building norms. This would allow them to recoup the rating fee as well as the extra initial cost of environment-friendly construction. The ministry now allows some incentives for individual buildings to get green rated. These include reimbursement of 90% of the rating fee and rewards for the architect.

100 years on, government reworks property registration rules

20 Mar 2010, 0129 hrs IST, Surabhi, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Registering a property could soon be painless affair with the government planning to replace the century-old Indian Stamp Act, 1899 with a simpler law that will do away with a large number of antiquated provisions and fees.

The finance ministry has already kicked off a preliminary exercise for drafting the new law and is hopeful of finalising it by the end of the year. The draft will also be discussed with state governments to elicit their views before a final decision is taken, government officials familiar with the development said. 

“The current law was written more than 100 years ago. Since then the form of business and transactions have completely changed and we feel that there is a need to replace the Act,” said a senior government official. 

Stamp duty is levied on a number of financial and legal transactions. At present, the documents are physically verified by different departments, making the process of registration a time-consuming activity. The new legislation is expected to address some of these issues. 

The proposed legislation is likely to recognize electronic stamping and electronic payment of stamp duties. At present, the facility is available as part of the MAC 21 e-governance initiative for companies that wish to file their papers online with the Registrar of Companies. 

The legislation could also allow payment of duty on instruments and court fees through modes like demand drafts and bankers’ cheques, which are not permitted under the existing law. 

“The emphasis has now shifted to e-governance and such a provision will make it easier for citizens to adhere to laws and be much more convenient than the physical act of buying and pasting stamps,” the official said, requesting anonymity. 

The provision could also help reduce the leakage of revenue because of stamp duty frauds, he said. The government is also planning to rework the current structure of stamp duty fees and penalties. Duties charged in the smaller denomination and often, obsolete paisa would be replaced with rupees or be calculated as a percentage. 

Significantly, the Law Commission, led by Justice AR Lakshmanan, had suo moto taken up the issue of amending the Indian Stamp Act last year. It had suggested in its report that the required fee for any transaction or court fee should be paid by demand draft, cash, postal order, banker’s cheque rather than through non-judicial stamp papers or special stamps. 

New real estate law in Dubai to tackle failing developers and cancelled contracts

More new real estate laws being considered for Dubai which will give investors grounds to cancel their contracts if they fall victim to failing developers and aimed at restoring confidence in the emirate’s property market.

The real estate investor protection law, which is being looked at by the Land Department of Dubai, will detail grounds upon which a property buyer may demand cancellation of a contract.

Dubai new property law  

Grounds for cancellation would include a developer’s refusal to link payments to construction milestones, or if he makes material changes to specifications. The law will also deal with refund or replacement issues in the event of a material defect and financial penalties for delay in delivery.
 
‘There are lessons to be learned from the crisis and we are emerging with a new legal regime. Loopholes in laws are being dealt with and things will become more organised in 2010,’ said Emad Eldin Farouq, senior legal adviser, Land Department.
 
The move is designed to restore confidence to Dubai's real estate market which has been badly hit by the impact of the global economic crisis. House prices in some areas of the city have fallen by 50% during the downturn.
 
Currently there is no recourse for investors seeking cancellation of a contract even in cases where construction has not commenced even after years. In May 2009, the Land Department set up a committee to decide on cancellation of unviable projects but no official announcement has been made of any cancellation.
 
Meanwhile, it has been announced that Saudi Arabia is to have its first mortgage law soon aimed at boosting the real estate industry and allowing banks to diversify their balance sheets.
 
Saudi Arabian central bank governor Muhammad al-Jasser said that the Shariah compliant legislation which has been discussed for the past two years will consist of five parts. It will define the terms of mortgages, how they are designed, how they are granted, how companies are licensed and how procedures will be enforced.
 
The law is on the way to the council of ministers before going to the Shura Council, the country’s consultative assembly, for final approval, he added.
 
‘It will be a qualitative jump in the way we finance housing in the country and in the way we use financial instruments that are linked to the housing market. Hopefully, the mortgage law will ensure the production of sufficient sukuk and corporate bonds that will be held by banks in lieu of government bonds,’ al-Jasser explained. Source: Propertywire