Registry ban hits builders hard, sale of 5,000 ready floors on hold

Gurgaon: With more than 5,000 builder floors constructed and ready for sale across Gurgaon, city-based developers have written to the Haryana government to lift the ban on registry of properties so that they can sell them.
On July 22, the state government temporarily halted registration of transfer deeds related to transfer of land in the state till August 17. But it is yet to lift the ban, which has adversely hit the real estate market.
Ramesh Singla, the president of Gurgaon Home Developers and Plot Owners Association, said buyers won’t be able to get land registered in their names till the time the registry ban is not lifted.
“The decision was taken as an interim measure to curb possible malpractices. But small developers are suffering for no fault of theirs. Over 5,000 builder floors are almost ready but there are no sales, which is also causing huge revenue losses to the state exchequer as well,” he said.
Vivek Narang, another developer, said they have approached all the government agencies concerned, but no official is in a position to offer clarity on when the registry ban will be lifted.
“Many homebuyers have paid the token money for buying the property but aren’t proceeding with the remaining payment as they are in a fix over registry. And after taking token money, the property is blocked and developers have no option but to wait,” he said.
Another member of the developers’ association, KK Dwivedi, added: “The lockdown has already affected the developers badly. Now, the delay in decision over starting registration by the state government is further denting us, especially small developers.”
Dheeraj Agarwal, a homebuyer, said he had finalised the purchase of a builder floor in Sector 57 and made the payment to the developer. “The ban on registration of property is causing a lot of stress. Lack of clarity on when it will resume is adding to the woes of buyers,” he added.
Meanwhile, an official from the revenue department official said they have received no direction from the department and ministry about registration.
“Once a decision is taken, the department will begin registration of sale deeds of the properties,” the official said.
The Haryana government had on July 22 announced it was temporarily halting registry in the state. Financial commissioner (revenue) and additional chief secretary (revenue and disaster management) Vijai Vardhan, in his order, had said the the government has given serious consideration to complaints of malpractices that exist in the current mechanism for registration of deeds for transfer of land or properties and is building a technology and data-based mechanism to ensure foolproof registration.