LEGAL ARCHITECTURE AND THE MARKETABILITY OF RESIDENTIAL FLATS IN INDIA: A STUDY OF APARTMENT OWNERSHIP, REGULATORY FRICTION AND ASSET LIQUIDITY
Keywords:
Apartment Ownership, RERA, Flats, Common Areas, Real Estate Regulation, Conveyance, Property Liquidity, Housing Market,Abstract
The residential apartment has become one of the principal forms of urban property ownership in India. Rapid urbanisation, increasing land values, expansion of metropolitan areas and changing patterns of household formation have made apartments a significant component of the Indian housing market. Yet the economic value of an apartment cannot be assessed exclusively through its location, size, construction quality or prevailing market demand. The legal structure through which an apartment is owned, conveyed, maintained, managed and transferred can substantially influence its marketability and long-term value.
Unlike England, where the historical distinction between freehold houses and leasehold flats has generated a distinct legal problem concerning diminishing lease interests, India does not have a single national leasehold model governing residential apartments. Instead, apartment ownership operates through a combination of central legislation, State-specific apartment ownership statutes, real estate regulation, municipal law, registration requirements and contractual arrangements. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 has attempted to strengthen the position of apartment purchasers by regulating promoters, requiring disclosure and providing for conveyance of apartments together with proportionate interests in common areas.
This article argues that the Indian problem is therefore not primarily one of leasehold tenure but of regulatory fragmentation and incomplete institutionalisation of apartment ownership. Delayed conveyance, uncertainty concerning common areas, maintenance and service charges, disputes between apartment owners and developers, deficiencies in building documentation, inconsistent State-level frameworks and difficulties associated with collective management can create friction in the secondary market. The article examines these issues through the concepts of property liquidity, alienability and asset security and proposes reforms directed towards making apartment ownership more legally certain, transparent and readily transferable.
References
1. Mulla, D.F., The Transfer of Property Act, LexisNexis, 13th ed., 2021.
2. Saxena, P.P., Property Law, LexisNexis, 2nd ed., 2017.
3. Shukla, V.N., The Transfer of Property Act, Eastern Book Company, 2nd ed., 2017.
4. Gray, Kevin J. and Susan Francis Gray, Elements of Land Law, Oxford University Press, 5th ed., 2009.
5. Megarry, Robert, William Wade, Charles Harpum, Stuart Bridge and Martin Dixon, Megarry & Wade: The Law of Real Property, Sweet & Maxwell, 8th ed., 2012.
6. Bright, Susan, Landlord and Tenant Law in Context, Hart Publishing, 2007.
7. Dixon, Martin J., Modern Land Law, Routledge, 13th ed., 2023.
