Stir after builder fails to hand over common areas in apartment complex | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: Residents of a major real estate project at Kalinga Nagar here staged a silent protest on Sunday, demanding handing over of the common areas to the association of allottees, a must under the Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Act, 2023.Residents alleged that although the association of allottees was formed and registered with the competent authority, the developer was not handing over the common areas in the complex and using them for its own purposes.“The common areas have been specified in our project, which according to the Act belong to us and should be utilised by us. The builder, instead of handing over the area, is using the space to build roads to its other adjacent projects,” president of the Association, Ajit Kumar Choudhary, said. The apartment complex has more than 1,200 residents.He said that for a long time, the developer was depriving them of the common areas. “We approached the court against the builder and got a stay order, which means the builder cannot undertake any kind of construction in the common area. But the builder is not abiding by it,” said Choudhary, adding that they would intensify their protest if the developer continued the illegal practice.As per the rules, the promoter, while transferring ownership of an apartment to an individual, should also transfer the common areas and facilities in the property in the name of the association of allottees, which will take care of its operation and maintenance.The Act, which came into effect in Jan last year, defines the common areas and the right to use them by the association of allottees. The Act also restricted the developers who keep the common areas in their names.“Common areas and the facilities in an apartment should belong to the residents rather than the builder since the buyers have paid for it. The apartment Act rightly defines the provision and the developer cannot violate it,” real estate activist Bimalendu Pradhan said.
