September 5, 2025:
As Mumbai’s skyline transforms with high-rises replacing ageing buildings, thousands of original homeowners remain caught in legal limbo. More than 6,000 redevelopment-related cases are currently pending before the Bombay High Court, many involving families still awaiting promised homes years after vacating their old ones.
The core issue lies in a legal blind spot. Once a building is demolished, residents lose protection under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA). The Act governs developers and new homebuyers, but excludes the rehabilitation component of redevelopment. This leaves displaced residents—often senior citizens and middle-class families—dependent on slow and costly civil suits, with little relief.
“RERA was historic when introduced, but it focused on new flat buyers, not those displaced by redevelopment. That has to change urgently,” said CA Ramesh Prabhu, chairman of the Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association (MahaSEWA).
Experts argue Maharashtra, a pioneer in housing law with MOFA and a state-level regulator before RERA, must once again lead by framing a new system for redevelopment disputes. They propose a dedicated adjudication authority with summary procedures, strict timelines, and powers of enforcement, along with a statutory Model Redevelopment Agreement to prevent one-sided contracts.
Advocate Godfrey Pimenta noted: “Just because someone did not purchase a flat with money does not mean they should lack protection. Redevelopment and SRA residents deserve the same legal cover.”
According to Advocate Shreeprasad Parab of the Maharashtra State Housing Federation, nearly 30% of the state’s 1.25 lakh co-operative housing societies are undergoing or awaiting redevelopment, yet face significant delays.
For every glittering new tower, he said, there is an old family still waiting to return home. Until the law is updated, redevelopment in Mumbai remains a gamble where too many lose out.
