The Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act, 1972

In Karnataka, and especially in urban areas such as Bangalore, there is a severe shortage of land. Because of this, buying an independent house becomes quite a task. The alternative is to purchase a flat in any of the many existing and up-and-coming multi-storied apartments. This alternative, though, is disadvantageous, in that you won’t have a marketable title and you can’t obtain loans by mortgaging such a flat or tenement.

Now, this doesn’t augur well for the government as well. If say, the tenements constructed by the Housing Board are sold to tenants who cannot raise money using these tenements as security, it’s akin to locking up of capital, which could have otherwise been used for constructing new tenements.

For this reason, it’s necessary that an apartment is made a heritable and transferable immovable property. This lets apartment buyers to actually own the apartment and institutions like Housing Boards can free up capital to construct new buildings.

If you’re convinced that this Act is useful to you, there is just one question we need to answer – what are the key features of Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act 1972? So let’s look into the features, and also understand the terms that’ll help us make sense of them.

Understanding the Terms used in the Act

Common Areas and Facilities

Common Areas and Facilities includes basements, gardens, cellars, pumps, elevators, and all other such structural elements that make up the building, in addition to the land on which the building is located.

Declaration

Declaration is the way is the means which ascertains the fact that a property is now submitted to the provisions of the Act. This instrument can be amended lawfully from time to time.

Common Expenses

Common expenses typically include the all the lawfully assessed sums to be paid by apartment owners, expenses agreed upon as common by the bylaws, expenses for maintenance, administration, replacement, and repair, and any other expenses called upon by Act’s provisions.

The Key Features of the Act

The Act concerns itself with only Residential Apartments

The act deals exclusively with apartments that are of a residential nature. The residential apartments are deemed as transferable and heritable properties under this act.

To register an apartment complex under this act, all apartment owners need to come together and sign the particulars.

The Details of the building should also be filed

All the relevant details pertaining to the building should be filed alongside the registration of the building’s declaration. The details should include the building’s name, location, layout, and the exact number of the apartment in question. Last, but the not the least, the dimensions of the apartment – extremely important – need to be mentioned as well.

Note that if the apartment doesn’t have a name, this fact should be clearly mentioned.

An architect and a few local authorities should verify the specified details

First, an architect should check all the details that have been documented. He then needs to confirm that the details are correct and say so in a statement released by him or her. Next, the architect’s statement needs to be confirmed by the local authorities under whose jurisdiction the building lies. They will verify the facts and, if found accurate, approve it.

It’s okay if your plans don’t have an architect’s seal of approval. You can instead arrange to attach an amendment with plans you intend to submit. According to this amendment, the details of the building, as mentioned in the document, are all true and accurate.

The deeds and declaration will then be registered by the Registrar or Sub-registrar through an act made effective in 1908.

This Act covers the concept of undivided share in common areas

Unlike the Transfer of Property Act of 1882, the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act of 1972 covers the concept of undivided share in common areas. This means that if you purchase the apartment with its proportional undivided shares, it’s the same as buying an immovable property under the Transfer of Property Act.

What the Act means for the people involved?

The buyer of the property becomes a complete owner of his or her apartment and the proportional undivided share. Using this newfound right, the buyer can secure a mortgage from the bank on this property.

Local government bodies such as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) also stand to benefit, as every apartment owner would then pay local taxes for his or her apartment and proportional undivided share.