Peninsula Land

In a move that will benefit retired bureaucrats and judges of high ranks, the Maharashtra government has reduced the transfer fee levied on selling of flats in cooperative housing societies which are built on leased government land. Now, those who have made such transfers could regularise the transaction by paying fee in the range of three and five per cent.

If you are buying property in Maharashtra, acquiring 7/12 document is mandatory. This two-part document talks about the ownership, the occupancy right, the liabilities and the details related to agricultural use of the land. The extract is maintained separately for every village. The 7/12 document is required for non-agricultural land as well. Now, landowners will be able to access the 7/12 document online on two government websites- Mahabhulekh and Aaple Sarkar. These extracts are available with digital signatures and can be used as official ownership document.

In order to become a debt-free company, real estate major DLF is planning to launch qualitative institutional placement (QIP) by June. The company will be raising up to Rs 4,500 crore by issuing about 17.3 crore shares through the sale of shares to institutional investors. The money so raised will be used to repay loans.

Maharashtra has launched new Development Plan for Mumbai metropolitan region that has cleared the deck for vertical development and has brought FSI bonanza for the developers. The FSI for commercial buildings has been raised to 5 to create space for new jobs and at least 5 lakh affordable homes.

When the state government made an insertion and created an amendment in the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, in August 2016, real estate developers were among the parties that were terrified. The state added Section 37A in the Code, giving itself the right to charge and recover from lessees the unearned income—the money they earned by transferring lease-holding rights to another person or entity. Under the changed norms, lease-holders could not transfer their lease-holding rights to another party without a prior permission of the state. On May 3, the Bombay High Court allowed the aggrieved realtors great relief while upholding the validity of the amendment.