Indian home buyers will now know if the land on which their building stands is free of outside claims after a recent Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular mandating builders mortgaging the land to raise money to disclose it in all advertisements and brochures.

The Economic Times reports the RBI has asked Indian lenders to ensure that all publicity material relating to the sale of real estate make a mention of the bank’s lien on the property so that home buyers are not kept in the dark about this legal claim or ‘hold’.

RBI aims to prevent prospective Indian buyers from being lulled into the belief that the flats they own are on ‘free-hold’ land through this move.

Anuj Puri, country head of real estate consultant Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj said “The RBI circular will bring transparency and accountability on the part of developers. It would also give a chance to buyers to see the viability of projects especially when the loan amount is very high.”

A Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) report has revealed that Indian investors are expected to invest between £10-15 bn in the next ten years buying 30,000 homes in the UK.

Simon Halfhide of JLL claimed that, by 2025, nearly 600m Indians will be able to afford to invest in UK property and that India already holds 125,000 USD millionaires.
Capgemini’s World Wealth Report recently stated India had a 22.7% rise in the number of millionaires, the highest increase globally and this is expected to reach over 400,000 by 2017.