5 Developments Pune Real Estate Market Witnessed Recently

The Pune property market in recent past has witnessed developments that have had a direct impact. PropGuide lists these developments and how these have affected the life in the city.

RERA and progress

Amid the state government refusing to extend the deadline for registration of projects and agents, Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) saw some 2,297 projects from Pune alone registered with the regulatory body. On the whole, MahaRERA also saw some 7,000 applications from the agents. 

Defaulters under the ambit

After a long debate, the civic administration has finally decided to include Local Body Tax (LBT) arrears in the property tax. This would be applicable in the case of more than 15,000 traders. The pending amount would be recovered despite being abolished. The understanding had been that Goods and Services Tax (GST) would be the only tax that would have to be made but in this case, the administration would be recovering the dues.

The trader community argues that after the protests, the LBT had been abolished. Later, in 2015 it was meant to be collected from those who had a turnover of over Rs 50 crore on an annual basis. Previously, traders with a turnover of less than Rs 5 lakh were supposed to pay the LBT.

GST leads to a hiccup

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been raising funds through municipal bonds to fund a mega project worth over Rs 2,800 crore that would help round the clock water supply. However, reports claim that the tender process has been scrapped owing to the impact of GST on the project cost. Officials, on the contrary claim that it was scrapped because contractors had claimed a higher amount which exceeded the budget of the civic body. The project is expected to be reinitiated.

A makeover for old buildings 

After a building collapsed in Mumbai's Ghatkopar area, the PMC has set itself a goal of redeveloping approximately 800 old buildings which are in various stages of losing strength. Most of these are located in the old areas of Kasba Peth, Tilak Road, Vishrambaug, Nana Peth, Narayan Peth and Budhwar Peth. Those in almost critical conditions, some 150 of these buildings have been served evacuation notices also citing that with impending monsoons, repair work is not effective and building collapse could be inevitable. In 2015, the civic body had razed 10 such buildings.

Water crisis

No home buyer or resident would ever wish to compromise on the water availability in their area. However, most of Pune is ailing with water issues, which is why the PMC had undertaken a project to address this problem. Recent reports claim that residents are not too happy about the water supplied by the PMC as it is turbid leading to people having to use various procedures to clean up the water before it becomes fit for drinking.

Before investing, do a due diligence and research about the quality of lifestyle around you. You wouldn't want to fend for something as basic as water on a daily basis.