Real estate agents cannot operate from homes, commercial address must for registration: Delhi-RERA chairman

Real estate agents in Delhi cannot operate from a residential address and it is mandatory for them to maintain a commercial office for which property tax has been paid

Delhi-Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) chairman Anand Kumar said that real estate projects in both planned and unplanned areas of Delhi are covered under RERA and have to be registered under the Act. Adding that real estate agents cannot operate from a residential address and it is mandatory for them to maintain a commercial office for which property tax has been paid.

“Both planned and unplanned areas are covered under RERA and projects in these areas have to be registered under the Act  ... brokers cannot be registered from their residential spaces, they must be registered from a commercial office and have to produce a certificate that they have paid commercial tax,” Kumar said at a real estate conference organised by industry body Assocham in the capital.

Kumar said the focus of real estate developers should be to build trust among the public. "Builders, developers and collaborators must work in a transparent manner according to rules and prepare projects as promised to the customers," he said, adding that there were many developers who did not want to register with the Authority.

"While buying any land, plot, flat or commercial property sold as 'RERA registered', check it on RERA's website, he said. He also warned the public not to register in ‘land pooling’ and ‘farmhouse policy’ projects. “Don’t fall into that trap.”

He warned builders and developers also against spreading a false narrative to sell flats or shops in projects without RERA registration, saying that strict action will be taken against them. RERA will not give any relaxation in this matter.

He said that plots of more than 500 square metres and projects with more than eight units, be it shops, flats, apartments, or commercial spaces, should be registered under RERA.