Offset not maintained for a G+2 floor apartment - Chennai

By the way, I may have misused the word "Offset" above. What I mean is the clearance from compound wall and the wall of the building.

Thanks

Narasimha

How is it possible to have the clearance for the ground floor only and not for the upper floors?  Are the upper floor flats projecting beyond external wall of the ground-floor flats?  If so the ground floor flats will not require any roof up to the compound wall.

In Mumbai construction can be done as per the plan approved by the Municipal corporation only. I do not know the situation at Chennai. The Tamilnadu Ownership Flats Act came into forcr in 1997. However I understand that most buildings are avoiding registration under the Act.

In Mumbai no flat can be used as a shop unless it was there in the original approved plan.

The ground floor pretty much a parking lot with just columns, except for the area where he is building a shop without permit. The gap/clearance between the columns and compound wall is about 5 ft, which is consistent with the approved layout. The roof above the parking area and above 1st floor are extended, by a feet or two, on all four sides, to get more floor space.

A question : If the shop is a concern in future, will demolishing the shop alone solve the problem? Or do the apartment owners have to take any stake in the trouble?

I will look into the "Tamilnadu Ownership Flats Act" that you pointed out.

Thanks

Narasimha

In order to do anything one should have the authority to do the thing. From your letter I understand that there are no flats on the ground floor except for the unauthorized shop which the builder is constructing and that it is a stilted area at the ground level. You also say that there are 2 upper floors. How many total numbers of flats are there in the building?  Has the builder kept one or more flats for himself?  How many flats have been sold? Are there any flats remaining to be sold?  Has the builder given you conveyance and has it been registered paying appropriate stamp duty?

If all the flats have been sold, or most flats have been sold, you can form an Association under the Tamilnadu Apartment Ownership Act, 1997. You may not be able to form a co-operative housing society as such a society should have at least 10 members. In order to register under the Act, you will need approved plan of the whole building giving plans of all the floors, showing all the apartments. No one can construct or add anything to the plan without the approval of the concerned authorities. The Act contains byelaws also. When you register for the first time, you cannot make any changes in the byelaws, other than filling up the blanks, giving the names of members etc. After the registration you can amend the byelaws. The procedure and requirements for amending the byelaws are given under the byelaws themselves. The byelaws should contain a provision stating that no one  can make any addition or alterations to the approved plan without the permission of the Association and, if necessary, the approval of the municipal authorities also. If it is not there already, you can add it afterwards also by amending the byelaws.

The builder may resist the registration under the Act, because he may not be able to do things as he likes.

You will also need the Association to collect common expenses from the members. In many buildings in Chennai, the members register the Association under the Societies’ Registration Act. It may be due to ignorance about 1997 Act or some may be doing on purpose mainly to retain control with a few individuals. According to me it is not advisable.

In the absence of Registration under the Act, it will be difficult to proceed against the builder. The reasons given by the builder, such as, that without violation of the law, the flats cannot be sold at a low price, are not valid.

Ramani,

Thanks a lot for your advice on Apartment Ownership Act and Societies Registration Act.  The apartment is still under construction, and there are 6 flats in total, with 3 in first and 3 in second floor. So with 6 flats I suppose we can register under Apartment Ownership Act but not the Societies Registration Act, since as you said the latter needs atleast 10 members. Can you confirm again please?

All flats are not yet sold. The land owner (Builder has Power of Attorney only) is likely to keep one of the flats, and either the land owner or the Builder will definitely keep the unauthorized shop in the stilt parking area with themselves.  With the illegal shop they are also helding some undivided share area of the land with themselves. Do you think this can cause complications in future, for the remaining flat owners?

Thanks

Narasimha

You have wrongly understood what I wrote. I wrote about three types of Associations/Societies. 1. Co-operative Housing Society 2. Ownership association under Tamilnadu Ownership Apartments Act, 1997 3. Society/Association under the Societies Registration Act. To form a Co-operative Society, you must have 10 or more members. Ownership Association can be formed even with lesser number of members. If you buy a copy of the Act, you will get answer to most of your questions. Societies Registration Act is a very old thing. Generally it is formed only to collect from members their contributions to common expenditures. I would not recommend that. Each apartment owner will have an undivided share of the land in proportion to the area of his flat. Has the builder given you a registered sale deed for your apartment? If so you see what is stated in the Deed regarding your share of the land. If you form Ownership Association, the ownership of the land will vest in the Association. Ownership could be free-hold, lease-hold or other types. You get a drawing of the approved plan of the building. You can get it from the concerned authority. Generally it may be with the local municipality or the Chennai Corporation. You find out who is the authority and apply for a copy. If they refuse to give on normal application, you can apply under Right to Information Act. Under the Act they have to give you within 30 days of your application. You may have to pay copying charges, which they will tell you on your application.