Parking spaces are not to be sold as separate entities or charged extra for. Yet, nearly 90 per cent home buyers pay extra for a parking space in their residential complex, says a recent Magicbricks poll!
The Supreme Court had passed a judgment in September 2012 which stated that “open-to-sky” areas or “stilted” (covered) portions of flat complexes, usable as parking spaces, cannot be sold separately by builders/promoters/developers as “garage”. These spaces are part of the “common areas” in flat complexes and not “saleable independently as a flat or along with a flat”.
This clearly indicates that parking spaces are not to be paid extra for. However, home buyers across the country seem to be unaware about this norm. As per a recent poll conducted by Magicbricks, nearly 90 per cent home buyers have paid extra for their parking spaces. This reflects either a high level of ignorance or unawareness on the part of buyers or lack of choices as developers also find a way to duck this norm.
Several Magicbricks users have also raised a concern about parking spaces on Open House-the discussion forum on Magicbricks. For instance, Santhosh Kumar from Chennai asked. “Do we need to pay an additional amount for the car park and can the builder sell the car park to an external buyer when I own the UDS on the land area?
Answering his question, Asha Basu, managing partner, S Jalan and Co says, “One should always remember that parking spaces cannot be charged extra. Further, these are not to be sold or rented to an outsider.
Shveta Jain, Executive Director, Residential Services, Cushman & Wakefield says, “It is a common practice for developers to charge extra for parking spaces, particularly in cities such as Mumbai where there is a space crunch. The price of an apartment is fixed on the basis of the built-up area and parking spaces are part of this built-up area. Thus, it is not justified to charge extra for it.”
Why then are developers indulging in such practices and why are buyers obliging? “Well, let me take the case of Mumbai. Parking spaces are considered a premium due to the space crunch in the city. Thus, buyers who have money do not mind paying an additional amount to own one,” adds Jain
In fact, several sale deeds mention it as mandatory to buy a parking space with the apartment or in some cases two parking lots in case the ticket size is large.
Practices such as these make us realise the importance of a regulator in the real estate sector. The first steps towards this have already been taken with the formation of the FAOA (Federation of Apartment Owners’ Association). However, more stringent rules and execution of the same is required to safeguard the interest of the buyers in the long run. Let us hope that with the Regulatory Bill becoming a reality, such issues would be taken care of. Till then, as buyers, let us all be more aware and careful!
Source: Times of India / Magicbricks.com Bureau