Realty Bites

Griha Summit

Opportunities for sustainable habitats in India will be the focus at the 10th edition of GRIHA Summit to be held in New Delhi from December 11 to 13. The theme of this year's summit will be "Fostering Partnerships for Sustainable Habitat". Besides panel discussions featuring industry mavens, an exhibition "AAKAAR — Reshaping self for sustainable future", will also be organised to provide a platform for the users and industry to experience various tools and technologies, such as augmented and virtual reality, in taking informed decisions for various choices in built environment. This year the summit will be co-hosted by University of New South Wales, Australia, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) & Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in association with GRIHA Council. — TNS

Godrej Properties-Hero Cycles tie up for Gurugram commercial project

Godrej Properties has announced a partnership with Hero Cycles to develop a commercial project comprising around 1 million sq ft of office and retail space on 4 acre land owned by the latter in Gurugram. “Godrej Fund Management, the real estate private equity arm of the Godrej Group, and Godrej Properties have entered into a joint venture (JV) with Hero Cycles for their Golf Course Road property in Gurugram,” the Mumbai-based developer said in a statement. The JV would develop, lease, and manage around 1 million square feet of prime office and retail space on the 4-acre property, it added. This will be Godrej Properties’ 14th project in Delhi-NCR.

The company said the project is situated in one of the most desirable commercial locations in the country. The site is in close proximity to a multitude of established and leading commercial, retail, and residential destinations. — PTI

Buyers prefer state RERA regulators for redressal

More than half of home buyers prefer to file their complaints against builders with real estate regulators established under the RERA Act that came into force in May 2017, according to realty portal Magicbricks’ consumer survey. The Real Estate (Development and Regulation) Act 2016, (RERA) has been able to instill faith and confidence among consumers, the portal feels. 

While 56 per cent of respondents prefer the RERA regulator in case of a dispute, 23 per cent still prefer to file their first complaint with the builder. Around 12 per cent  home buyers said that they would go to consumer courts. Just 7 per cent chose to go to the police and 2 per cent would either go to the High Court or the Supreme Court. Magicbricks also spoke to RERA regulators from Gurgaon, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Uttarakhand, who have been flooded with complaints from consumers. K K Khandelwal, RERA Regulator Haryana, said 1,800 complaints have been filed so far and still they are receiving 15-20 complaints daily. For Uttar Pradesh (UP) RERA regulator Rajive Kumar, there was a backlog of 8,100 complaints, of which 2,200 have been disposed of. He expects that by January 2019 all pending complaints would be addressed, the statement said. Madhya Pradesh regulator Anthony de Sa is trying to ensure that all complaints have their first hearing within 30 days. In Uttarakhand, Regulator Vishnu Kumar has 266 complaints in 225 registered projects.  — PTI