Four Things That Must Be In The Deed When You Buy A Redeveloped Floor

The collaboration agreement is not your sale deed. It is the document that produces your sale deed — and when the two disagree, you find out at the registrar, or afterwards, which is worse.

Buying a floor in a newly redeveloped building is a different transaction from buying a resale floor, and the difference is not the paint. A newly redeveloped floor has no transfer history. The rights you will hold for the next thirty years are being written for the first time while you are deciding whether to buy.

Four of those rights are routinely left vague. None is an unusual question to ask. The precise legal treatment depends on the plot, title, approvals and deed; a property lawyer should review the final documents.

One: the undivided share of land, written as a fraction

What proportion of the plot do you own? Not described, not explained, not “as per the arrangement between the parties.” A number. This may barely matter on the day you take possession. It becomes central when the building is eventually redeveloped and owners have to establish what each is entitled to.

Ask what fraction of the land is yours. If you receive a sentence instead of a number, the deed needs further work.

Two: the parking bay, identified

Which bay? Whether it is independent or stacked? Parking and its legal character require plot-specific advice, but any right presented as part of the sale should be documented with sufficient clarity for a later owner to understand it.

Three: the terrace, with its rights stated

Exclusive or common? With a right to construct, or without one? All of those combinations can arise. Only one is what you were told at the site visit. If you are paying the top-floor premium, establish exactly what terrace right is being transferred.

Four: a sanctioned plan that matches what is standing

Not merely a sanctioned plan: a sanctioned plan that matches the building. Walk the property with the plan in hand. Count the floors. Look at what has been done to the stilt. Check whether the terrace on the drawing is the terrace on the roof.

The document behind the documents

The collaboration agreement between the original plot owner and developer is not your sale deed. It is the instrument behind the developer's right to sell in the first place. Ask to see it and have counsel compare it with the sale deed and approvals.

Road width, plot size, an existing stilt, colony-specific overlays and proximity to a notified monument are plot questions, not general rules. They should be answered with the sanctioned plan and approvals in front of you.

Read: What it actually costs to deliver a new South Delhi floor

Read: South Delhi redevelopment and collaboration — how the process works

Grey Beard Real Estate

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