Problems of real estate sector

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THE growth of the real estate sector in Bangladesh has been quite impressive. A number of such developers have indeed earned high appreciation from their customers for building quality apartments in multistoried buildings and handing over ownership to them as per schedule.
But not all developers have the same integrity or efficiency and to them the relevant authority in the government needs to turn their attention. Reports appear now and then in the national dailies about some real estate developers are having been involved in many serious irregularities. Allegedly, the so called developers received as deposits against land and buildings many million of takas from unsuspecting people who are yet to see any signs of their dream apartments coming into existence not to speak of actually using or renting them though years have passed. Many such deceived clients learnt later on that the housing companies do not even own the plots against which they paid money or that the plots are actually of very poor quality-- marshy or water-logged lands-- that would take years to bring into any shape for building high-rise buildings on them.
Such fraudulent housing operators in some cases even vanished after taking money from people without any traces . Others who have not entirely vanished and retain at least signboard existences cannot be forced by their defrauded clients in many cases to observe terms and conditions because of the exceptionally long and exasperating legal process involved.
The present state of affairs in this section of the real estate sector calls for a review by the appropriate government department to providing relief to the cheated people. Effective guidelines need to be introduced to regulate such unscrupulous housing companies so that these are obliged to respectfully carry out the contracts they enter into with members of the public. Meanwhile, the real estate sector has, of late, been facing a difficult situation because of depressed demand conditions. Many people are unwilling to commit funds for purchase of apartments and flats on real or perceived grounds of fear. Public policy supports for improving the demand situation without a let-up of the current anti-graft drive against those who indulged themselves in serious corruption are important for the purpose.
Shahriar Hossain
Armanitola
Dhaka