Millions of middle-class families in Maharashtra invest their life savings and decades of income into buying a home. Unfortunately, many of these families are forced into severe financial stress because builders sell under-construction flats with promised possession dates that are often delayed for years.

Today, thousands of homebuyers across Maharashtra are trapped in projects where possession is delayed indefinitely, forcing them to:

Pay home loan EMIs
Pay rent for current accommodation
Wait years beyond promised possession dates
Fight expensive legal battles against powerful developers
This system is fundamentally unfair to ordinary citizens.

The Reality of the Crisis
According to official data from Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA):

Over 30,833 complaints have been filed by homebuyers in Maharashtra since 2017.
More than 23,726 complaints have already required regulatory intervention.
Thousands of new complaints continue to be filed every year, many related to delayed possession.
Between Oct 2024 and July 2025 alone, 5,267 complaints were resolved, and 3,743 new complaints were filed.
As of late 2025, over 6,000 complaints remain pending with MahaRERA.
Even more alarming:

Historically, over 5.5 lakh flats in Maharashtra have faced possession delays, with many delayed for several years.
Despite the existence of RERA, enforcement challenges remain. In many cases, even when buyers win legal orders, builders delay compliance.

For example:

Only 31% of recovery warrants issued against builders have been executed, leaving hundreds of crores owed to homebuyers unpaid.
This demonstrates a systemic failure that continues to harm ordinary citizens.

 
The Root Cause
The core issue is simple:

Builders are allowed to sell flats before construction is completed.

This enables developers to:

Raise money from buyers
Delay projects
Change timelines repeatedly
Shift financial risk onto buyers
In contrast, in many mature real estate markets worldwide, homes are sold primarily after completion or near completion, protecting buyers from construction risk.

 
Our Demand
We respectfully urge the Government of Maharashtra and Hon. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to introduce legislation that:

1️⃣ Prohibits sale of under-construction residential flats to retail buyers.
Builders should only be allowed to sell Ready-to-Move-In flats with Occupancy Certificate (OC).

2️⃣ Allow limited pre-booking only for institutional investors (if necessary), not retail buyers.
3️⃣ Ensure that builders finance construction through:
Equity
Bank financing
Institutional funding
—not through homebuyers’ savings.

4️⃣ Introduce strict penalties for delayed possession, including:
Automatic buyer compensation
Project takeover mechanisms
Blacklisting repeat offender builders
 
Why This Reform Is Necessary
This reform will:

✔ Protect middle-class homebuyers
✔ Reduce real estate fraud and project delays
✔ Improve trust in the housing sector
✔ Encourage financially strong and responsible developers
✔ Make Maharashtra a model real estate market for India

Homebuyers should not be forced to become involuntary financiers of construction projects.

A home is not a speculative investment — it is a family's dream and security.

 
Our Appeal
We urge the Government of Maharashtra to take bold action and introduce legislation that ends the sale of under-construction flats to retail buyers.

It is time to protect citizens from financial and emotional distress caused by delayed housing projects.

We request the Hon. Chief Minister to initiate consultations and introduce the necessary law at the earliest.

 
Sign this petition if you believe:

A homebuyer should receive a home — not a decade of waiting.