There is need for realty regulators in states: Parekh

There is need for realty regulators in states: Parekh
The Economic Times, August 10, 2009, Page 15

PTI MUMBAI

HOUSING Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) chairman Deepak Parekh has said there is a compelling need to have real estate regulators at state level to deal with issues concerning the housing sector. “There is a compelling need for state-level real estate regulators,” Parekh said in an annual report of the company sent to shareholders.

Discussing various aspects of real estate, he said, "It would be a missed opportunity if the government were not able to lay out an institutional framework for a real estate regulator".

According to Parekh, regulators' role would be to monitor the affordable housing agenda, promote real estate reforms, ensure transparency especially by mandating that flats be sold only on carpet area and act as a platform to protect buyers from real estate fraud.

Referring to the affordable housing, Parekh observed that affordable housing is not about box-sized , budget homes in far-flung places where there is no connectivity to work places and little surrounding infrastructure. "Affordable housing has to be able to cut across all income segments and has to make economic sense in terms of proximity to work place", he said.

About challenges being faced in rural housing, he sid challenges of rural housing are vastly different from urban housing and key reform like permitting the mortgage of agricultural land for residential purpose was needed. Parekh has also criticised tendency of state housing boards to make profits by selling lands.