Real estate is defined as land, including the air above it and the ground beneath it, as well as any buildings or structures built on it. It is also known as reality. Residential housing, commercial offices, trading spaces such as theaters, hotels, and restaurants, retail outlets, industrial buildings such as factories, and government buildings are all included.
The purchase, sale, and development of land, as well as residential and non-residential buildings, constitutes real estate.
Landlords, developers, builders, real estate agents, tenants, buyers, and so on are the major players in the real estate market. The real estate sector’s activities also include the housing and construction industries.
With the liberalization of the economy, the real estate sector in India has grown in importance. The resulting increase in business opportunities and labour force migration has increased demand for commercial and housing space, particularly rental housing.
Developments in the real estate sector are influenced by developments in the retail, hospitality, and entertainment industries (e.g., hotels, resorts, cinema theaters), economic services (e.g., hospitals, schools), and information technology (IT)-enabled services (such as call centers), among others, and vice versa.
The real estate industry is a major job creator, ranking second only to agriculture in terms of employment. This is due to the sector’s extensive backward and forward linkages with other sectors of the economy, particularly the housing and construction sectors. The real estate industry supports approximately 250 ancillary industries such as cement, steel, brick, timber, and building materials.
The Indian real estate market is still in its infancy, is largely organized, and is dominated by a large number of small players, with few corporate or large players having a national presence. When compared to other more developed Asian and Western markets, the Indian real estate markets are smaller in size, have lower availability of high-quality space, and have higher prices.
The supply of urban land is largely controlled by state-owned development bodies such as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Housing Boards, leaving only a small amount of developed space available, which is managed by a few major players in each city.
Many of the more than 100 laws that govern various aspects of the real estate date back to the nineteenth century. Despite the abundance of laws, the situation appears to be far from satisfactory, and significant changes to existing laws are required to make them relevant to modern-day needs.
The following are the central laws governing real estate: Indian Contract Act, 1872:
This law defines when a party is said to have the capacity to contract. An individual (who is not a minor or of unsound mind), partners of a firm, a corporate body, a trust, a sole corporation, the manager of an undivided family, and a foreigner can all enter into a realty contract.
All of the legal requirements for a valid contract, such as consideration, intent to contract, and validity, must be met.
Property Transfer Act of 1882:
This establishes general principles of reality, such as part-performance, and includes provisions for dealing with property via sale, exchange, mortgage, lease, lien, and gift. A person who acquires immovable property or any share or interest in it is presumed to be aware of the title of any other person who was in actual possession of such property.
The Registration Act of 1908:
The purpose of this Act is to preserve evidence, assurances, title, document publication, and fraud prevention. It describes the procedures for registering an instrument.
Instruments that must be registered include:
(a) Instruments of immovable property gift.
(b) Other non-testamentary instruments that purport or operate to create, declare, assign, limit, or extinguish, whether now or in the future, any right, title, or interest in or to immovable property, whether vested or contingent;
(c) Non-testamentary instruments that acknowledge receipt or payment of any consideration in exchange for instruments
(d) Leases of immovable property from year to year or for a term longer than a year, or reserving a yearly rent.