Surendra Hiranandani, Founder & Director, House of Hiranandani on two years of RERA

RERA has completely changed the landscape of realty sector in India. It has definitely promoted transparency, trust and growth in the real estate sector leading to higher domestic and foreign investments. The stringent measures enforced by Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) has erased out non serious players and only credible developers with proven track record are driving the market, both organically and via consolidation. This is good from a buyer’s perspective as one is assured of a quality product within stipulated timelines. This is expected to continue in 2019 as well and we will see established names further capitalize on their brand to strike joint development deals with smaller players.

In the last two years, RERA has helped in enhancing long term sustainable growth. Investors are now looking at Indian real estate with renewed vigour. It not only brought back the confidence among end-users, but also gave the customers better clarity to make informed decisions while buying homes. It laid down the guiding principles with regard to rights and obligations of all stakeholders involved. Only established developers who conduct their business with transparency will survive in the future and will be able to navigate the roadmap.

However, the biggest lacunae of RERA is absolving statutory authorities in granting permissions. We must have a single-window disbursal of all regulatory approvals which has been a long standing demand of the real estate sector as it will help developers complete projects on time. The other downside of RERA is that a young entrepreneur who wishes to enter this business will find it difficult. You have to be an organised player. You just cannot start and build your way up; you have to build something before you start, in terms of finance, compliance and your team. RERA has made everything more challenging.

We believe that two years is a very short span in analysing the impact of legislation on an entire sector and this clearly points that RERA is still a work in progress.