Housing Rights
Your rights as a homebuyer, tenant, or landowner under Indian central law — RERA protections, tenant rights, eviction safeguards, and protection from illegal demolition.
Covered in this guide:
- RERA — Homebuyer Protections
- Tenant Rights Under the Model Tenancy Act
- Protection from Illegal Eviction
- Protection from Illegal Demolition (Right to Property)
- Right of First Refusal for Tenants on Sale of Property
- Landlord's Maintenance and Repair Obligations
- Rights in Housing Society Disputes
- Right to Information About Land Titles
If you're buying a flat, the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) forces builders to register the project, park 70% of buyer money in escrow, and pay you interest or refund if possession is late. Tenants are mainly covered by state rent control acts and the central Model Tenancy Act, 2021 — eviction needs a court order on a recognised ground. Affordable housing runs through PMAY. After a Supreme Court intervention in 2024, authorities must give written notice and a hearing before any demolition under Article 21 and Article 300A.
Key Laws
Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016
Act No. 16 of 2016 (RERA)
Homebuyer protection and builder accountability
Model Tenancy Act, 2021
Central Government framework for states
Rent agreements, deposits, eviction grounds
Transfer of Property Act, 1882
Act No. 4 of 1882
Lease, licence, and property transfer rules
Registration Act, 1908
Act No. 16 of 1908
Mandatory registration of property documents
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)
Government of India scheme, 2015
Affordable housing subsidies
RERA — Homebuyer Protections
RERA was the long-overdue answer to the Indian real-estate industry's worst decade. Through the early 2010s, builders collected money from thousands of buyers, started construction, ran out of money,...
Tenant Rights Under the Model Tenancy Act
The Model Tenancy Act, 2021 is the Centre's attempt to drag rental housing into the 21st century. It is a model — meaning each state decides whether to adopt it, modify it, or stick with whatever rent...
Protection from Illegal Eviction
An Indian landlord cannot show up on Friday and announce you have to be out by Monday. Eviction is a court process — start to finish. Any attempt to dodge that process is what the law calls "self...
Protection from Illegal Demolition (Right to Property)
This area of law has shifted dramatically in the last two years. After several state governments adopted the practice of demolishing homes of accused persons before any conviction — what the press beg...
Right of First Refusal for Tenants on Sale of Property
If you have been renting a flat for years and the landlord decides to sell, several Indian tenancy laws give you the first crack at buying it. This is the right of first refusal, and it exists to prev...
Landlord's Maintenance and Repair Obligations
The split between "landlord's repair" and "tenant's repair" is one of the most-fought lines in Indian rental law. The statutes draw a clean line — the practice often does not. Know...
Rights in Housing Society Disputes
Most apartment owners in urban India live under a cooperative housing society — and that means a Managing Committee, an AGM, and a long list of statutory rights and duties most residents never read. T...
Right to Information About Land Titles
The single most expensive mistake in Indian property buying is trusting the seller's photocopies. Land records are public — and the system, while creaky, lets any buyer pull up ownership, mortgages an...