The Ethical & Practical Processes of Redevelopment
In our previous posts, we have tried our best to cover the basic guidelines of the operational and technical process of the much spoken about subject – Redevelopment.
Today, we are all geared up to take you through the ethical and practical processes Are you ready? Read on.
There is NO guideline for the ethical part except the inner conscience of the representatives of the society.
The members should ensure that no person having any kind of a dubious record is part of the group. As the old saying goes “one rotten apple spoils the whole bunch.”
Also, greed shouldn’t overpower other emotions.
We had recently negotiated for a property to be redeveloped by a reputed builder. After going through the entire process, agreeing to the T&C’s and exchanging letters, we started getting calls from a few committee members demanding commercial favours to get the project through. Basically, they were just trying to jeopardise the interest of the other 35 members. What happens in such cases? Developers, to take on the project, begin to compromise on the quality of the same. In our case, we gracefully exited this one while the committee members appointed another developer almost immediately. They started with the project that was supposed to handed over in 3 years but was handed over 7+ years later with compromised work – not what was promised and also expected from the residents. This doesn’t mean one has to be cynical or skeptical about everyone but one needs to keep their eyes and ears open always.
Coming down to the practical part – after having received the area and cost calculations from the PMC, the members should adopt a sensible approach.
Having advised a few societies in this regard, it is advisable to pick a developer with pedigree instead of an unknown developer. Many a times, unsuspecting members fall prey to big talks and false assurances of smooth talking people who offer much more area etc. to the society, and learn and earn at your expense. There is no denial about fantastic properties being built by newcomers too but it’s a call you need to take.
To sum it all up, each society who is going in for redevelopment with an external developer has to keep in mind the following steps:
1. Getting consent of the majority stakeholders
2. Appointing a committee to liase and coordinate on this
3. Appointing a PMC
4. Deciding broadly of what one should get post redevelopment – area, corpus, rent, amenities etc.
5. Issuing a tender notice
6. Opening the sealed tenders in the presence of the society stakeholders
7. Getting a watertight agreement drafted mentioning carpet area, parking, amenities, corpus and also the timelines for the construction period along with penalties, bank guarantees against any delays.
For self development most steps would remain the same after omitting the developers obligations.
Listing below:
1. Ensuring the finance is organised
2. Contractors of proven records are appointed
Pro Tip: It is your lifeline, protect it to the best of your ability and knowledge without succumbing to greed and big talks.
See you next week. Until then, please feel free to share your feedback and opinions in the comments below.