When the builder has offered you possession of the flat but due to certain conditions you want to delay the possession then the builder charges you property holding and safeguarding charges. Yes, you read this right. The builder has all the right to charge you this fee.
I have been in this real estate industry for more than 10 years and I have seen 2 sets of clients in these years:
- Who are eagerly waiting for possession – these are the kinds who are just waiting to move out from their rental property to their own home. They check with me very actively every now and then about the status of the property.
- Who are not in a hurry! – yes, you heard it right. They have made the payment but they are not in hurry and there are lot of reason behind this. What if someone is an investor and he wants to sell off the property without involving the additional burden of registry charges etc. What if he stays outside of india and got stuck because of this pandemic or say any avoidable situation and not in a position of coming to India and do the formalities.
This particular blog post is for the second set of clients who are delaying their possession or say want to take it at their own convenient time.
Do you need to worry if you are delaying the possession from your end?
The answer to this question is YES! you can’t be sitting relaxed because builder is going to charge you property. if the builder has received the property completion certificate and they have intimated you about the possession and still you are delaying the possession then the builder has the authority of taking property holding charges from you. Because during this tenure builder is going to safeguard your unit and will be holding its labor to do the final touches in your unit/apartment. The builder charges you approx. Rs 5 per sq.ft per month as a property holding and safeguarding amount. And this charge varies builder to builder.
If the above penalties that are imposed by the builder were not mentioned in the BBA ( builder buyer agreement ) then you can approach the consumer forum to get them waived off. It is advisable to first send the builder a legal notice asking him to clarify the penalty imposed due to delay in payment and waiving off the handling charges
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