Haryana Apartment Ownership Act: Rights, Registration and Rules
The Haryana Apartment Ownership Act helps apartment owners get clear ownership of their flats and a share in common areas. It also guides how residents should maintain the building and work as a community. Knowing these rules makes society management fair and transparent.
What is the Haryana Apartment Ownership Act?
The Haryana Apartment Ownership Act is a legal framework that protects the rights of people who purchase apartments in the state. It ensures every apartment owner gets a registered title, share in common spaces, and a clear record of ownership. The law also explains how residents should form an association, manage maintenance, and make joint decisions.
This matters because many societies face confusion about parking spaces, common areas, or maintenance responsibilities. When the rules are based on the Haryana Apartment Ownership Act, there is less conflict and more transparency. It creates a cleaner system for sale, transfer of flats, society governance, and safety requirements.
Key Provisions of Haryana Apartment Ownership Act, 1983
- Provides a legal framework for individual apartment ownership and management of common areas in multi-apartment buildings in Haryana.
- Each apartment is treated as a distinct immovable property, while common facilities remain jointly owned and maintained.
- Owners must execute and register a “declaration” to bring a building under the Act. Developers/owners file the declaration to opt their building into the Act’s regime.
- Applies to residential apartments as well as specified non-residential complexes, including self-contained office or retail units that meet the definition of “apartment.”
Apartment Ownership and Legal Status
- Each apartment, along with its undivided share of common areas, becomes a distinct immovable property.
- Legally, an apartment is heritable and transferable, meaning it can be sold, mortgaged, or inherited independently.
- Apartment owners have ownership and possession of their units as per the registered declaration.
- Each owner must execute a registered Deed of Apartment, which serves as evidence of title, specifies apartment details, and records their share.
- The deed must be drafted and registered in the prescribed format.
Shared Ownership of Common Areas
Shared Ownership
Along with the right to their flat, each owner acquires an undivided percentage interest in the common areas (land, structure, facilities) of that apartment. This percentage is fixed by the declaration based on the apartment’s relative value to the whole property. Under the Act, this share runs with the apartment and is automatically conveyed whenever the apartment is sold.
No Partition
Common areas must remain undivided; no owner can demand physical division or sale of it. Any agreement attempting to partition common facilities is void. Owners use the common areas collectively by right. The apartment-owners’ association or its managers have the right to enter any unit when necessary for maintenance or repairs of common areas.
Declaration and Registration Under the Act
Bringing a building under the Act requires a legally registered Declaration by the promoter/ builder. It must include:
- A description of the land and building (storeys, basements, materials, number of apartments).
- The number and basic details of each apartment, like location, approximate area, room count, and immediate common area access.
- Detailed description of all common areas and facilities.
- The value of the entire property and of each apartment, and its corresponding undivided interest percentage.
- Restrictions on how the building and apartments may be used (purely residential or mixed-use as permitted).
- The method for amending the Declaration, and particulars of a person to receive legal notices.
- Copies of the initial bylaws governing the owners’ association.
A true copy of the Declaration must be filed with the authority in Haryana. The Declaration effectively brings the property under the Act’s regime, making all rights and duties operative.
Simultaneously, certified architectural floor plans (showing apartment layouts, numbers, and dimensions) must be filed. These plans are approved by local authorities and accompany the Declaration for public record.
Read also: How to Register an Apartment Society
Deed of Apartment: Your Legal Title
Once an owner is allotted a flat, the developer or seller executes a Deed of Apartment for that unit. The registered deed must include:
- Reference to the registered Declaration (land description, declaration registration details).
- The apartment number and identifying data.
- The permitted use/restrictions for that apartment.
- The exact percentage of undivided interest in the common areas belonging to that apartment.
This deed is the legal title document for the flat. Copies of each registered Deed of Apartment are also filed with the competent authority, ensuring transparency of ownership.
Common Areas and Facilities Explained
All parts of the building that are not exclusively part of an apartment are common areas and remain under collective ownership. This includes structural elements like foundations, beams, walls, and roof, along with lobbies, corridors, stairs, elevators, basements, parking areas, and gardens. This also includes utility installations (water tanks, electrical panels, HVAC ducts, etc. and even staff quarters or any common amenities (like a clubhouse or commercial facilities provided in the declaration) fall under “common facilities”.
Limited common areas are specific portions of these that the Declaration reserves for certain apartments (e.g. an exclusive parking slot, dedicated terrace or store-room). Other owners cannot use those areas unless authorised by amendment of the Declaration.
Residents have the right to use common facilities for their intended purposes, but must not infringe on others’ rights. Maintenance, repairs, and improvements of common property are handled collectively through the association, with costs shared by all owners (proportional to their interest).
Read also: Benefits of Living in Apartment
Apartment Owners Association and Bylaws
The Act mandates that all apartment owners collectively form an Apartment Owners Association to manage common aspects. They govern via bylaws attached to the Declaration. The bylaws typically cover:
- Election of a Board of Managers (including tenure and powers) to oversee day-to-day management.
- Procedures for owners’ meetings (quorum, voting rules) and Board meetings.
- Appointment of officers (President/Chair, Secretary to keep minutes, Treasurer for accounts)
- Maintenance and repair of common areas, and how to allocate those costs
- Collection of common expenses (due dates, penalties for late payment) and audit of accounts.
- Rules on leasing of common facilities or generating income from them.
- Restrictions on apartment use (e.g. no structural alterations, no nuisances).
No bylaw changes are valid unless they are incorporated and registered into an amended Declaration.
Decisions made by the association are legally binding on all owners. Bylaw compliance and association rules are enforceable on owners, tenants, or anyone using the property. They must adhere to the Declaration and bylaws.
Maintenance, Expenses, and Taxes
All owners must contribute to common expenses that cover the costs for upkeep, maintenance, insurance, utilities for common services, etc., in proportion to their undivided share. An owner cannot opt out of paying by claiming non-use of the flat. In other words, even if an owner never uses the gym or lobby, they must still pay for its maintenance if it is part of common property.
The Act clarifies that each apartment (and its share of common property) is separately assessed for property taxes. Common areas are not taxed separately; they are covered by the individual apartments’ taxes.
If an owner fails to pay his share of common charges, the unpaid sums become a lien on that apartment. This lien ranks ahead of most other charges on the property (except government taxes or a prior first mortgage). Thus, unpaid maintenance charges dues effectively “stick” to the flat until cleared.
Insurance and Damage Management
The apartment association is responsible for arranging fire and hazard insurance for the entire property whenever required. The policy is taken in the association’s name for the benefit of all owners, and the premium is paid as a common expense. Owners can still insure their own flats separately.
If the property suffers major damage and the association does not decide to rebuild within 60 days, the entire property automatically becomes undivided common property. Owners can then sell it together, and both sale and insurance money are divided according to each owner’s share. If there is no agreement, any owner may approach the court to force a sale.
Transfer of Ownership and Buyer Protections
When an apartment is sold, the undivided interest in common areas automatically transfers with the flat, and the new buyer becomes liable for any unpaid common expenses that accumulated up to the sale date. So the buyer is entitled to request from the association a statement of unpaid common expenses for the unit, ensuring transparency in due diligence.
Removal of Property from the Act
If a registered building becomes unsafe, severely damaged, or unfit for living, the owners can collectively decide to remove it from the Haryana Apartment Ownership Act. Once this happens, individual apartment ownership stops, and all owners receive a shared, undivided right over the entire land and structure. If the building is later repaired or redeveloped, the owners can register it again under the Act.
Enforcement, Meetings and Penalties
The Act empowers the association’s managers or Board to initiate legal actions on behalf of the owners with respect to common areas or collective interests. Notices or lawsuit documents involving the building can be served to the person nominated in the Declaration.
All owners and tenants must comply with the Act, the Declaration, and the bylaws. Association decisions, properly made via majority voting, are binding on all owners.
Non-compliance with the Act’s filing/registration requirements is a serious offence. For example, failure to register the Declaration within the prescribed time can lead to penalties, including hefty fines and imprisonment.
Practical Insights for Owners and Buyers
Legal Recognition
The Act ensures that every apartment in a registered building is a standalone property with its own title. Buyers can purchase flats as independent assets.
Shared Ownership
Common facilities (stairs, lifts, gardens, etc.) remain indivisible. All owners share the responsibility and cost of maintaining them. No owner can appropriate or fence off a common area without consent.
Fixed Shares
Each flat’s percentage interest in common property is fixed in the Declaration and cannot be changed without unanimous consent and a formal amendment.
Transparency
Declarations, deeds and floor plans must be registered and filed with the government, and owners and buyers have a public record of the building’s legal structure. Due diligence should include verifying these records.
Expenses
Owners share all common expenses proportionally. An owner cannot opt out by claiming non-use. Buyers should always obtain a certificate of no dues from the seller or association.
Insurance and Risk
Buildings must be insured collectively. In a disaster, the default is joint ownership of any proceeds unless owners unanimously agree to rebuild.
Governance
The Act mandates an owners’ association with bylaws, elections, accounts, etc. Active, transparent management (through board and meetings) is crucial in practice.
Buyer Protection
Section 20 protects buyers by making them jointly liable for unpaid common charges. The right to a statement of dues means a buyer can verify liabilities before purchase.
Community Management by NoBrokerHood
NoBrokerHood offers tools for resident communication, maintenance tracking, billing of shared expenses, and storing important documents like declarations and apartment deeds. With digital records in one place, committees can manage approvals and updates smoothly, while residents get clarity on ownership and society decisions. This supports a more transparent system and helps societies stay aligned with the Haryana Apartment Ownership Act during everyday management.
All Solutions by NoBrokerHood:
FAQs
No. The Act applies only when the building’s promoter or owner registers a Declaration under the Act.
Under the Act, the apartment owner remains liable. The housing society can place a lien on the flat for unpaid common charges in many cases.
It’s risky. The Deed of Apartment documents your legal title and share in common areas. If it’s missing or not registered, buyer confidence and legal clarity are affected.
Yes, but amendments to the Declaration or bylaws must follow the procedure in the Act, and registration of the amendment is essential. Unilateral changes are not valid.
Yes. Verify that the declaration is registered, the deed of apartment is executed, the floor plans are certified, and the percentage of undivided interest is specified.
No. The percentage of undivided interest for each apartment can only be altered if all owners consent and the amended declaration is registered.