Juhu Cooperative house owners left at the mercy of Redevelopers
Construction on the Juhu’s Anamika Cooperative Housing Society which was to undergo redevelopment as per a contract made with Kumar Urban Development seems to have come to halt. The building has been demolished while the residents are living on rented houses in different locations.
Buildings that are deteriorating require redevelopment for which cooperative societies usually get into deals with a builder and vacate the premises for the construction work to be done. Sometimes, house owners also end up with larger and better planned flats and extra money and thus seem like a tempting proposition for many housing societies. However, in the case of Juhu’s Anamika Cooperative Housing Society’s redevelopment project, the builder seems to have abandoned the project and backtracked on its agreement with the society after already demolishing the building.
Present state:
- The residents of the cooperative society are left at the mercy of the builder. There were 20 flat owners in the society who have dispersed to different parts of the city living on rent.
- It has been five years since the flat owners got into an agreement with redeveloper Kumar Urban Development in 2010. Although the building has been demolished, no sign of new homes are to be seen and it has been a year since work has come to a halt.
- The flat owners are left frustrated and Chairman, Dipak Painter states they aren’t sure if they will be able to go back to their homes at all.
- Most residents now fear that the rent they are receiving from the builder at the rate of 75,000 per month too will stop if they fail to renegotiate their agreement.
Builder – Flat owner issues:
The developer has demanded renegotiation on their deal wanting to scrap a clause stipulating that any benefit accruing from additional floor space index (FSI) would be shared 40-60 between the residents and builder, respectively.
An estimated amount of Rs.22 crore premium has been paid to Mhada, the state apex housing authority for the additional FSI as per what has been told by the builder.
Other such cases:
Activist Chandrasekhar Babu stated that over 5000 homes across Mumbai are in a similar state of stagnation where people have vacated their homes and the builders have backtracked on their earlier negotiated deal.
Source: The Times of India
Anamika cooperative housing society, Floor Space Index, FSI, Juhu Cooperative house, Urban Development in 2010
