Think Tankers Forum: Model Tenancy Act & Affordable Rental Housing Complexes

Addressing the need for Affordable Housing and in light of the new Model Tenancy Act by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) and GRI India organized a Think Tank Forum, a platform of open discussion and deliberation.

The Hon’ble Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Durga Shanker Mishra was the special guest for the forum, and he brought to light many interesting facts and was very receptive to the different ideas and suggestions put forth by the industry representatives. He started the discussion by congratulating NAREDCO and GRI India for putting together a great event for discussion on Model Tenancy Act and the Affordable Rental Housing Complexes. He shared how the Pandemic hit the labor community and how it was a challenge for the developers to curb the reverse migration of the labor force. He took the opportunity to also highlight how the Government is working relentlessly to combat any further waves of the Pandemic and ARHC is one such important step calling ARHC a win-win solution for both the labor force and the developers.

He insisted the developer community focus on the development of on-site residential complexes for not just the construction workers but also other local essential providers who visit the residential complexes and reside in nearby slum areas. He emphasised that true development will be in the eradication of slum areas and providing everyone a home, as per the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Housing for all. To the suggestion of freeing the FAR, he mentioned that the Government has already taken cognizance of such recommendations and will soon come with a model to address such recommendations.

MoHUA Secretary was very receptive to many other suggestions and requested NAREDCO to prepare a note on all the recommendations and share it with the Ministry and the Ministry will action on it immediately. He categorically appreciated the recommendation on the representation of developers in the State Advisory of RERA, to which he said he will personally take up the matter and issue an advisory to states at the earliest. Secretary also appreciated the efforts of NAREDCO, especially Shri Rajan Bandelkar, President, NAREDCO National for the efforts taken by NAREDCO, especially in line with the Pandemic and ensuring a safe working environment at Construction Site and other initiatives like film, etc.

Speaking at the event, Shri Niranjan Hiranandani, Founder and Managing Director, Hiranandani Group and Vice-Chairman, NAREDCO appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and congratulated Shri Durga Shanker Mishra for initiatives like Model Tenancy Act and Affordable Residential Housing Complex and all the support provided by the Ministry during Pandemic. He also requested the Ministry to consider the standard deduction of 50% from the current 30% which will be a huge step for residential renting and will bring it at par with commercial space. He further highlighted that with the Model Tenancy Act and formalization of the Tenancy in India, a lot more investment will be seen in this sector.

Shri Sudip Mullick, Senior Partner Head of Real Estate, Khaitan & Co – India moderated the session and cleared multiple doubts regarding the Model Tenancy Act. He assured the audience of the positive impacts of the Act and added that Pandemic cannot be considered as Force Majeure and brought clarity on the subject.

Shri Sanjay Dutt, Managing Director and CEO, Tata Realty & Infrastructure, brought to the forum two very constructive suggestions, first to confirm Standard Specifications (Design) under the Act, conforming to which developer should not require additional clearance like Environment, etc. Secondly, he proposed that the Central Bank check the feasibility to normalize the interest rate of both housing loans and commercial loans. Shri Sanjay Dutt was very appreciative of the Model Tenancy Act and shared his vision of a single-page Rent Agreement like Singapore in days to come as the Model Tenancy Act comes into force.

The Chairman Emeritus, NAREDCO, Shri Rajeev Talwar, while congratulating the MoHUA Secretary MoHUA for the exemplary initiatives taken by the Government, also recommended a model to monetize the ARHC scheme and stated that he would soon be submitting a formal proposal for same.

Shri Rajan Bandelkar, President, NAREDCO National, thanked the MoHUA Secretary for his precious time and also highlighted just as RERA brought professionalism and much-needed respectability to the Real Estate sector, the ARHC, and Model Tenancy Act will reduce compliance burden and will fulfill the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s dream of Housing for All. He further assured MoHUA Secretary that he shall be collating all the recommendations and submitting them formally to Ministry and will take forward the deliberations on same. He concluded with a vote of thanks to all the august panelists, members of GRI India, and the audience for making the event a huge success.