How to Convert Apartment to Society?

Cooperative societies, as opposed to condominiums, allow all members to jointly own any excess FSI (Floor Space Index) as well as all shared areas. Additionally, legal disputes are resolved faster through Co-operative Courts. But how to convert apartment to society? After the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970 was amended in 2018, only 51% of apartment owners are now required to approve the conversion of a condominium into a co-operative housing society.

How to Convert Your Apartment to Society?

A resolution must be passed by 51% of owners at the general body meeting to start the official conversion procedure. 

After that, a temporary committee is established, which:

1. Transfers the condominium’s dues to the new society

2. Coordinates with the builder

3. Prepares key documents like: Deed of Declaration, Application to Assistant Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Consent letters from 51% of owners, Committee bank account details, Draft by-laws

A civil court declaration suit must be filed to dissolve the condominium prior to registering the society. Registration of the Society requires a minimum of 10 members from various families. If less, the Competent Authority's approval is required. 

A Rs. 2,500 registration fee must be paid to the government's treasury. The society must also become the new owner of the common areas, and stamp duty will be due at the Ready Reckoner rates. 

Get Legal Assistance in Converting Your Apartment to Society Via Experienced Advocates at NoBroker

To convert an apartment complex into a society, you first need to form an Apartment Owners Association. As a first-time apartment buyer, I wasn’t sure whether it was possible to convert a flat into a society. I researched online and found some articles mentioning the procedure of how to convert apartment to society. I had a friend who was also interested in creating this association with me. We discussed it together, so let me give you a quick guide.

Can a Registered Apartment be Converted to a Society?

Yes, a registered apartment can be converted into a society if you’re following a legal procedure and submitting a few necessary documents to the concerned authorities. I am sharing the process that we followed.

1. First, we created an ad hoc committee, which is important to interact with the builder/developer for a smooth transition and register for the owner association. 

2. Then, we registered the association under the Apartment Ownership Act, 1972. 

3. After that, we needed to prepare a deed of declaration for the property. This is usually done by the builder/developer. But if your builder doesn’t cooperate, you can hire a lawyer to help you with the documentation.

4. Once the deed is created, you need to prepare the bylaws. After that, the builder will approve the DoD, and our ad hoc committee was formalised into the first management committee (MC) of the owners\' association.

5. Then, we opened a bank account and applied for PAN, TAN, GST. 

6. Once the owner association was ready, we registered for the cooperative housing society by submitting an application and some documents to the Assistant Registrar of the cooperative department. 

So, this is all we did to convert an apartment to society. The main part here is forming the owner association. To understand the process of society registration in detail, you can read this:

I hope this helps.

Make Society Management Stress-Free and Convenient with NoBrokerhood