Draft Apartment Bill gives flat owners stronger rights over common areas
The proposed Karnataka Apartment (Ownership and Management) Bill, 2026, finally attempts to end the disputes arising between flat owners and builders over the ownership and
The proposed Karnataka Apartment (Ownership and Management) Bill, 2026, finally attempts to end the disputes arising between flat owners and builders over the ownership and use of common spaces, laying down a comprehensive legal framework defining what constitutes common areas and facilities, who owns them, and how they should be managed. However, there is further scope for improvement, especially in terms of management, flat owners said. The proposed legislation makes it clear that every flat owner will automatically hold an undivided and non-exclusive ownership right in the land and all common areas of the project. This ownership will remain inseparable from the flat and will pass along whenever the flat is sold, inherited, or transferred. While the clarity eases the confusion that has existed for years for flat sellers, Dhananjaya Padmanabhachar, convenor of the Karnataka Home Buyers Forum, pointed out that the transfer rules will be in direct conflict with the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016.
Padmanabhachar noted that Section 17 of the RERA Act, 2016, says the common area title should be transferred to the association of allottees by executing a conveyance deed. However, in the proposed law, ownership of the land and common areas will remain with the flat owners collectively and not with the association itself. “For instance, if our land ownership were to be transferred to individual flat owners and if there are five thousand flat owners, how can the government enter five thousand names in land records? It’s practically impossible,” he said. Detailed definitions The bill establishes a detailed definition of common areas, significantly expanding beyond traditional spaces such as staircases, lifts, and corridors and adding staff quarters for security, drainage, sanitation, and renewable energy installations. The bill states that any community or commercial facility, including clubhouses, swimming pools, and other recreational facilities constructed within the project and consuming the project’s Floor Area Ratio (FAR), will automatically form part of the common areas.
The builders may retain ownership of such facilities only if they are constructed on a separate parcel of land outside the project, specifically approved in the sanctioned plan, and disclosed to buyers before the sale of apartments. Such privately retained facilities cannot be included while calculating flat owners’ super built-up area or their share in the land. This very clarification ends the saga of misusing common spaces by the builders, as it will no longer be kept by them. Ownership Every apartment owner’s undivided share in the land and common facilities will be determined in proportion to the flat’s private area relative to the total private area of all apartments in the project. The bill also bars promoters, apartment owners, or any other person from retaining exclusive control over common areas, restricting their lawful use, or levying charges except as permitted under the Act or the bye-laws.
The BriefWire