51% consent for housing society redevelopment now

To ease redevelopment of cooperative housing societies, the state government has reduced the consent required from 70% to 51%. It had slashed consent for redevelopment of old, dilapidated cessed buildings, as also for slum rehabilitation projects and smaller societies by bringing in an amendment to Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act (MAOA) in 2017. The government resolution (GR) issued on Thursday by co-operation department is applicable to cooperative housing societies. There are nearly one lakh societies in Maharashtra, mostly in Mumbai and Thane. "The decision was taken to ensure that redevelopment of housing societies can be expedited. Many societies' redevelopment is stuck due to the developer not getting 70% consent. This will make the process faster," said an official. But experts said it could go against residents and it was a pro-builder move. They said it could lead to more litigation. "It could lead to more litigation as the number of disgruntled members will be more. The 51% consent may lead to making the minority group more vulnerable, giving the developer a free run,'' said advocate Manoj Shinde.