TNRERA Extends Project completion date by Five months

The Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority has given a five-month extension for completion of projects registered under TNRERA in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic and consequential force majeure.

“All registrations which are valid as on February 1 are extended automatically up to June 30. The validity of the registration will also be updated soon with revised completion date,” the Authority said in a circular.

 “We had sought an extension for six months and they have given five months. Most of the construction workers are taken care at the project sites. Once the lockdown is lifted, we hope to resume operations at the earliest,” S Sridharan, chairman-CREDAI Tamil Nadu, said.

K. Vaitheeswaran, advocate and tax consultant pointed out the builder’s responsibility to the home buyer depends on the terms of the contract entered between them. “It is advisable for the Real Estate developer to examine the contracts and explore the possibility of sending out a notice to the customers intimating them about the impossibility of performance due to a force majeure event. It is pertinent to mention that most contracts are structured in a manner that requires such intimations to be sent in order to validly invoke the force majeure clause,” he added.

With the project completion dates getting pushed further, the existing customers will have to bear the extra pre – emi on their home loans which is going to make a hole in their pocket. This will also adversely impact decision making on new purchases and even the developer community is going through a tough time in managing cash flows, progress of construction at existing sites, and by extending project deadlines - project cost also to shoot up as much as 5% - 7%, Neelesh Bora, Founder www.mypropertyboutique.com said.