Odisha Eases Rules to Allow Resale of Pre-2016 Apartments

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has amended the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, and relaxed provisions under the Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Act, 2023, enabling the resale of older apartments that were previously facing regulatory hurdles.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra announced that apartments sold before the RERA Act came into effect can now be resold without occupancy certificates or RERA registration certificates. For resale, owners will only need to furnish old deeds of transfer or registered sale deeds.

According to a special gazette notification issued by the H&UD Department, many buyers who had purchased apartments before October 5, 2016, were unable to register their transfer deeds during resale due to compliance issues. The relaxed norms aim to resolve these long-standing challenges.

The decision is expected to provide relief to apartment owners across Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and other urban centres, easing property transactions and improving market flexibility.