Behind Every Project Is a Parcel: How Land Is Vetted and What Buyers Can Check

A buyer in Bangalore usually meets a project at the brochure stage. By then the developer has already finished the hardest work, which is deciding that this particular parcel is worth building on. That decision rests on four tests, and each can be checked by an outsider. Here is how.

Start With the Title

Title decides whether a deal proceeds at all, so careful developers put it first. Before paying a landowner, they commonly carry out a long list of checks.

The developer's sequence

The usual steps are these:

• A digital survey, compared with the revenue sketch and the deed schedule, to spot encroachment
• A lawyer's reading of ownership deeds, encumbrance certificates and RTC extracts
• Land records requested from the revenue offices themselves and matched against the deeds
• Public notices in the press and at the site, inviting claims
• A court-records search for suits still pending
• Enquiries with the sub-registrar about earlier agreements by the same owner

A written title opinion follows. A JDA project is on someone else's land, so the checks also cover the owner and the JDA text. The buyer's advocate should go over the papers a second time, ahead of the sale agreement.

The part that is public

The central RERA law of 2016 makes some of this visible. Section 4 asks a promoter to file, along with the registration application, a declaration backed by an affidavit. Three points are covered, listed below:

• The promoter holds legal title, or documents that back a right to develop land owned by somebody else
• The land is unencumbered, or each encumbrance is described along with anyone holding a right in it
• The project or phase has a stated completion date

A sanctioned plan and a layout come with it. Search for the project by its registered name on the RERA website for Karnataka. A mortgage over the land is a common arrangement and no flaw in itself, as long as the buyer's own flat is cleared of the charge ahead of registration.

Then the Location

Position sets the pace of sales and the price. A developer asks several things, set out below:

• How broad is the road that leads to the gate?
• Is the area already served by water, drains, electricity and buses or the metro?
• Are schools, hospitals and shops close, and how long is the trip to the big employers?
• How have neighbouring projects sold?

Lakes, parks and open views lift the price.

Some neighbours do the opposite. Open drains, sewage plants, burial grounds, high-tension lines and flight paths are the usual culprits. A builder may still buy such land where demand is strong, so walk the whole boundary and do not stop at the gate.

The Ground Itself

Ease of building comes next. Rock raises the expense of digging basements, and soft or filled soil needs deeper foundations. Level ground saves money and time, since little cutting and filling is required.

Relative height is as important. Land lower than its surroundings gathers rain, and several parts of Bangalore have flooded. If a storm drain, a public road or a power line of high voltage crosses a plot, the layout is split and buffer rules apply.

Trees slow things down in a different way. Felling one needs permission from the Tree Officer under a 1976 state law on tree preservation. Dense tree cover stretches the approval timeline, and plans are often drawn around the biggest ones.

Shape and Size of the Plot

The permitted floor area must fit within the boundary once setbacks are left all round. A neat rectangle loses the least to these gaps and lets towers be placed with good distance between them.

Irregular outlines and narrow frontages cause trouble: towers bunch up, driveways take more room and some flats get poor daylight. A look at the layout drawing shows the problem at once, so open it before the unit plan.

Putting It Together on a Site Visit

A morning on site and a short spell with the papers will answer most of what the developer asked. The same list works for a city project or for a growing area like Devanahalli.

1. Drive in along the approach road and look at its width and its state after rain.
2. Walk the edges and look out for drains, cables, treatment plants and low corners.
3. Ask if the developer owns the land or is building as a JDA partner.
4. Find the title declaration and encumbrance details in the RERA entry.
5. Study the layout drawing, noting how far apart the towers are and how much open space remains.
6. Obtain an independent advocate's opinion before paying more than the booking amount.

A project that satisfies all six has got past the hardest stage of building. For a specific project, write to us on the contact page with its name and the area you prefer.