Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, 2022

What the Act covers

The Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, 2022 applies throughout Tamil Nadu and covers buildings containing four or more apartments. An apartment may be used for residential or commercial purposes. An apartment owner includes a person who owns an apartment and a person holding an apartment on a lease of at least thirty years.

The Act affects apartment owners, long-term lessees, subsequent purchasers or inheritors, promoters, housing societies, development authorities and apartment owners' associations.

Ownership and common areas

The Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, 2022 gives each apartment owner exclusive ownership and possession of the apartment. The apartment and its undivided interest in common areas and facilities form one heritable and transferable immovable property.

Key provisions include:

• An apartment or its undivided interest in common areas cannot be partitioned or subdivided.
• Each owner's share in common areas is proportionate to the apartment's carpet area compared with the project's total carpet area.
• The common area share cannot be separated from the apartment and passes with any transfer or encumbrance of the apartment.
• Owners must use common areas for their intended purposes without obstructing or encroaching on other owners' lawful rights.
• Common areas include facilities such as staircases, lifts, common entrances, terraces, parks, open parking, central services, water systems and community facilities.

Declaration and association requirements

The Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, 2022 requires the promoter or a majority of apartment owners to submit a declaration to the notified competent authority. For a newly completed building, submission is required within ninety days from the completion certificate. For a building already existing when the Act commences, submission is required within one hundred and eighty days from commencement.

The competent authority may examine the declaration, accept and endorse it, or return it with defects to be corrected and resubmitted within thirty days. A declaration may later be amended for a genuine mistake, a change in the property, or redevelopment.

After acceptance, the majority of owners must prepare bye-laws and submit them for registration. Once registered, the owners must form an association for the building. The bye-laws govern management, meetings, elections, maintenance, common expenses and any necessary federation.

Effect on buyers and owners

The Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, 2022 binds existing owners and later owners to the declaration and registered bye-laws. An association or affected owner may take action to recover money, claim damages or seek injunctive relief when an owner fails to comply.