Tenants of Non-Cessed Buildings Getting Ownership Flats After Redevelopment

Yes — a protected tenant living in a private, non-cessed building in Mumbai can end up owning a brand-new flat after the building is redeveloped. Most people assume the generous, clearly-defined scheme belongs only to cessed buildings in South Mumbai. It does not. DCPR 2034 carries a regulation written for exactly this situation — Regulation 33(7)(A), headed "Reconstruction or redevelopment of dilapidated/unsafe existing authorized tenant occupied building in Suburbs and extended Suburbs and existing authorized non-cessed tenant occupied buildings in Mumbai City". Where it applies, it gives a non-cessed tenant the same 27.88 sq m (300 sq ft) carpet floor and the same 51% consent threshold that a cessed tenant gets under Regulation 33(7).

There is one condition, and it decides everything. Regulation 33(7)(A) applies only where the building has been declared unsafe for human habitation, or is to be demolished for that reason under a lawful order of MCGM, and is duly certified as such. With that certificate, a statutory floor exists and cannot be negotiated away. Without it, DCPR 2034 fixes no carpet minimum for a non-cessed tenant at all, and the area is only what the registered agreement says. The first thing worth establishing, therefore, is which side of that line your building sits on.

This guide explains, in plain language, what a "non-cessed" building is, exactly what Regulation 33(7)(A) gives you in numbers, what happens when it does not apply, the conditions a scheme must satisfy, the RERA safeguards, and how the route differs from the cessed-building route under Regulation 33(7) that most people have heard about. It also covers the third case that gets left out of almost every article: a non-cessed building that is not tenanted at all but is owned by a registered co-operative housing society. That building redevelops under Regulation 33(7)(B), and its numbers are completely different from both of the others.

What "cessed" and "non-cessed" actually mean

A cessed building is an old building in Mumbai's Island City (broadly South Mumbai up to Mahim and Sion) that pays a repair "cess" — a small statutory charge — to MHADA. Under the MHADA Act, 1976, this cess is collected and used by the Mumbai Building Repair and Reconstruction Board (MBRRB), a wing of MHADA, to repair and reconstruct very old structures. Cessed buildings are graded A, B or C mainly by age, with the oldest built before 1940.

A non-cessed building is simply a building that does not pay this cess. It may be a tenanted building in the suburbs, or a private tenanted building inside the Island City that never made it onto the cess list. The people living there may still be old, protected tenants who pay a small rent to a landlord — but because no cess is paid, the special MHADA repair-and-reconstruction machinery, and the guaranteed incentive scheme that comes with it, does not apply to them in the same automatic way.

Why the label matters — and where the usual advice goes wrong: Regulation 33(7) itself is for cessed buildings in the Island City existing prior to 30/09/1969. But the regulation immediately after it, 33(7)(A), is written for the other side of the line: dilapidated or unsafe authorised tenant-occupied buildings in the Suburbs and Extended Suburbs, and authorised non-cessed tenant-occupied buildings in Mumbai City. A non-cessed tenanted building does not have to borrow the cessed scheme — DCPR 2034 gives it one of its own, with the same carpet floor, the same free-of-cost ceiling and the same consent threshold. What 33(7)(A) does not carry is the flat FSI of 3.00; there, the FSI is the rehabilitation area plus an incentive of 50, 60 or 70%. To understand the base framework first, read our DCPR 2034 explained guide.

And if nobody in your building is a tenant, neither regulation is yours. A non-cessed building whose flats are owned by members of a registered co-operative housing society falls under Regulation 33(7)(B) — "Additional FSI for Redevelopment of existing residential housing societies excluding buildings covered under regulation 33(7) and 33(7)(A)". So the first question is not "cessed or non-cessed" but a three-way one: cessed 33(7), non-cessed tenanted 33(7)(A), or non-cessed society 33(7)(B)? The answer changes your minimum carpet from a statutory 27.88 sq m to nothing at all, and changes your uplift from an FSI percentage to a fixed slice of built-up area. Both are set out in figures further down this page.

Regulation 33(7)(A): what a non-cessed tenant is actually entitled to

This is the regulation most non-cessed tenants are never told about. It covers an authorised tenant-occupied building that has been declared unsafe for human habitation, or is to be demolished for the same reason under a lawful order of MCGM, and is duly certified as such — in the Suburbs and Extended Suburbs, and authorised non-cessed tenant-occupied buildings in Mumbai City. The scheme can be undertaken by the landlord, or by a co-operative housing society of the existing tenants. If your building has no such certificate, 33(7)(A) does not apply and everything below is negotiated instead of guaranteed.

The carpet area the regulation gives you

Each tenant is rehabilitated and given the carpet area occupied for residential purpose in the old building — but with a hard floor and a hard free-of-cost ceiling.

Source: DCPR 2034 (sanctioned), Regulation 33(7)(A), Appendix clause 3.

Carpet area here means the net usable floor area within the tenement, excluding the area covered by walls and anything specifically exempted from FSI computation, but including the balcony where the balcony is free of FSI under the regulation then in force. The balcony is worth naming in the agreement, because it is regularly left out of a developer's first offer.

The number of plots is the one lever still in your hands

Your own entitlement is largely fixed by what you already occupy. The number of plots taken up jointly in the scheme is not — and it moves both the developer's incentive FSI and your own carpet.

Source: DCPR 2034 (sanctioned), Regulation 33(7)(A), clauses (a) and (b) and the proviso to (b).

Where the plot carries a tenant-occupied building together with a non-tenanted one — an owner-occupied building or an existing society building — the FSI available is the rehabilitation FSI, plus 50% incentive FSI, plus the FSI already authorisedly consumed by those non-tenanted buildings. And under Appendix clause 20, if rehabilitation plus incentive still comes to less than the permissible FSI under Regulation 30, the owner may develop up to the permissible FSI by availing TDR or additional FSI on payment of premium. Regulation 33(7)(A) is a floor, not a cap.

Seven clauses worth quoting back at the developer

These sit in the Appendix to Regulation 33(7)(A). Each one is a specific thing to check or demand — not general advice.

• Fungible area on the rehab component is free of premium, and it belongs to you. Clause 13: the fungible compensatory area admissible on the rehabilitation component is granted without charging premium, shall not be used for the free-sale component, and shall be used to give additional area over and above the eligible area to the existing tenants. Get that sentence copied into your PAAA.
• Only tenancies created on or before 13 June 1996 count. Clause 4. The regulation also names the proof it will accept: a certified inspection extract of the Municipal Corporation for the year 1995-96, or a court order. Apply to your MCGM ward office in writing for that 1995-96 extract early — the list of tenants and the area each occupies is certified by MCGM, not by the developer.
• Rs 5,000 per sq m additional development cess. Clause 15: payable by the landlord or by the tenants' co-operative society on built-up area over and above the FSI permissible under Table 12 of Regulation 30, for both the rehabilitation and the free-sale components, and enhanced by 10% every three years. If your society is itself the developer, this cost is yours — make sure it is priced into every offer you compare.
• One year to start, five years to finish. Clause 17: reconstruction must commence within one year from the date of demolition and be completed within five years, with alternate accommodation arranged in the meantime. That is a checkable deadline, not a promise.
• A corpus fund covering 10 years of maintenance. Clause 18. Note what it does not say: DCPR 2034 fixes no rupee figure here. The Rs 50,000-per-tenement minimum belongs to cluster schemes under Regulation 33(9), so under 33(7)(A) the amount is negotiated and must be written into the agreement in figures.
• FSI is computed on the whole layout. Clause 10: for a tenanted building, the entire plot or layout area including Development Plan roads and internal roads is counted, excluding only land under reservation for public amenities. This is more generous than the general rule in Regulation 30(A)(2), where land under DP roads is excluded from the base.
• 20% of the incentive FSI may be used for non-residential purposes (clause 12). Ask how much of the new building is being planned as shops, and whether it stays inside that 20%.

Source: DCPR 2034 (sanctioned), Appendix to Regulation 33(7)(A), clauses 4, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18 and 20.

Regulation 33(7)(B): the non-cessed society route, and what it gives instead

Everything above assumes tenants. Thousands of non-cessed buildings in Mumbai have no tenants at all — the flats are owned by members of a registered co-operative housing society. Those buildings are outside Regulation 33(7) and outside 33(7)(A), and DCPR 2034 gives them their own short regulation: Regulation 33(7)(B).

It is the plainest regulation in the whole 33 series. Where existing members are re-accommodated on the same plot, the society gets incentive additional built-up area of 15% of the existing BUA, or 10 sq m per tenement, whichever is more — without premium. There is no carpet floor, no free-of-cost ceiling and no plot-count ladder. There is one number, and it is measured in built-up area.

Which of the two limbs pays your society more

The regulation gives you "whichever is more", so both have to be worked out before you read a single developer offer. The two limbs are exactly equal when the existing authorised BUA averages 66.67 sq m per flat (about 718 sq ft of built-up area). Below that average, the 10 sq m per tenement limb wins — which is why a society of many small flats is often better off than it expects. Above it, the 15% limb wins.

Do this before you talk to anyone. Take the existing authorised BUA from your sanctioned plan or the last approved IOD/CC, divide it by the number of flats, and compare that average against 66.67 sq m. That single division tells you which limb the regulation owes you, and it is a figure your committee can check without an architect.

The 30-year age test — and the exact date that decides it

Regulation 33(7)(B) applies only to redevelopment of existing authorised buildings that are thirty years of age or more. The regulation defines the age itself, and the definition is worth reading twice: age is taken as on the 1st of January of the year in which a complete redevelopment proposal is submitted to the Commissioner, and is calculated from the date of the Occupation Certificate or, alternatively, from the first date of assessment as per the property-tax record held by MCGM.

That gives your committee one concrete errand: obtain your building's Occupation Certificate date, and separately the first property-tax assessment date from your MCGM ward office, and put both on record. If the OC is missing — common in older buildings — the property-tax record is the regulation's own named alternative, not a workaround. If the two dates straddle the thirty-year line, the timing of your submission decides whether 33(7)(B) is available to you at all.

Five more clauses of 33(7)(B) worth holding a developer to

• The incentive is a floor, not a cap. If the existing authorised BUA plus this incentive still comes to less than the permissible FSI under Regulation 30(A)(1) — the Table 12 figure for your road width — the society may avail additional FSI on payment of premium, or TDR, right up to that permissible FSI. Run your own road-width number on the FSI calculator before you accept that 15% is "all the plot has".
• Fungible area splits into two lines, and only one of them is billed. Clause 7: fungible compensatory area under Regulation 31(3) on the existing authorised BUA is granted without charging premium; fungible over the incentive additional BUA is granted by charging premium. Ask your architect to show those two amounts on separate lines, because a single combined figure hides which half carries a premium bill.
• Old staircase and lift area can enlarge your base. Clause 2: if the staircase, lift and lift-lobby areas were counted in FSI in the earlier development, the incentive additional FSI is also given on that area, and those areas may then be availed free of FSI by paying premium as per the prevailing regulation. Pull the old sanctioned plan and check how those areas were treated — it changes the BUA the 15% is computed on.
• It is switched off by the other schemes. Clause 5: 33(7)(B) does not apply to a proposal being processed under Regulation 33(5), 33(7), 33(8), 33(9), 33(9)(A), 33(9)(B), 33(10), 33(10)(A), 33(20)(A) or 33(21). It is also independent of the additional BUA permissible under Regulations 14(A), 15, 16 and 17 (clause 6) — so those are added on, not absorbed.
• Mixed plots are split, not merged. Clause 8: where tenanted buildings and society or non-tenanted buildings coexist on one plot, the proportionate land component matching the existing authorised BUA of the tenanted building is developed under 33(7)(A), and the remainder notional plot under 33(7)(B). A plot with both is two schemes on one survey number, and the split is by existing authorised BUA — get that proportion written down early.

One relaxation is shared across all three regimes and is easy to miss: for redevelopment schemes under Regulations 33(7), 33(7)(A), 33(7)(B), 33(10) and 33(10)(A), a road width of 9 m is adequate for a building height up to 120 m, and 13 m for height above 120 m, subject to the Chief Fire Officer's NOC. If a developer says your 9 m road caps the height of the new building, that is the clause to put in front of him.

Source: DCPR 2034 (sanctioned), Regulation 33(7)(B) clauses 2 to 8; Regulation 31(3) proviso on fungible compensatory area for 33(5), 33(6) and 33(7)(B); Regulation 43 proviso on access road width.

What the difference between the regimes is actually worth

The three regulations are not three flavours of the same thing. They are measured in different units, they are triggered by different facts, and they hand your family very different levels of certainty. This is the comparison to make before you accept anyone's description of "what you are entitled to".

Source: DCPR 2034 (sanctioned), Regulation 33(7) clauses 1 to 5, Regulation 33(7)(A) and its Appendix, Regulation 33(7)(B) clauses 1 to 8. Consent for a society is governed by the MCS Act, 1960 and the section 79A directive dated 4 July 2019, not by DCPR 2034.

The trap this creates. Because 33(7)(B) speaks in built-up area while your family thinks in carpet, an uplift of "10 sq m per flat" is not 10 sq m of extra carpet — built-up area is the larger measure, and DCPR 2034 publishes no conversion factor between the two. So do two things. Insist that every offer states your new area as carpet in square metres, defined as RERA carpet under Section 2(k) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016; and ask the architect to show, on paper, how the sanctioned BUA converts to carpet on your specific plan. A society that compares a BUA promise against a carpet expectation loses the difference silently.

How a non-cessed tenant actually becomes an owner

Three legal pillars combine to move a person from "protected tenant" to "flat owner". Understanding each one tells you where your rights come from — and where a weak agreement could quietly take them away.

1. The development potential of the plot (DCPR 2034)

Redevelopment only pays for itself if the plot can hold more built-up area than the old building had. That extra area — which the developer sells in the open market — is what funds the free flats for tenants. How much a plot can hold is its Floor Space Index (FSI): the ratio of permitted floor area to plot area. Under DCPR 2034 (the rulebook for Greater Mumbai; the rest of Maharashtra follows the UDCPR), a plot's potential is built up from base FSI linked to the road width in front of it, plus premium FSI bought from the authority, Transferable Development Rights (TDR), and fungible compensatory FSI. Every one of these is plot-specific — there is no single universal FSI figure — so the honest first step is to estimate your own plot with our FSI calculator. If several old buildings sit together, a non-cessed building can also join an urban-renewal cluster under Regulation 33(9), which unlocks its own layout and FSI rules.

2. Rent-control protection for the tenant

A protected tenant cannot simply be evicted so a building can be demolished. Maharashtra's rent-control law protects a long-standing tenant's right to occupy the premises, and that protection is the tenant's single biggest bargaining chip. Because the tenant cannot lawfully be thrown out, the landlord and developer must bring the tenant into the scheme — which in practice means offering a permanent alternative home. A "protected tenant" here means someone whose tenancy is recognised and shielded by law, typically shown by rent receipts in their name and entries in the landlord's rent register.

3. A registered agreement — and, finally, conveyance

The change from "tenant" to "owner" happens on paper, in two stages. First, each tenant should sign an individual Permanent Alternate Accommodation Agreement (PAAA) — the contract that promises a specific new flat, of a stated carpet area, free of construction cost. Under Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908, a document that creates rights in immovable property must be registered to be fully effective, so both the PAAA and the main development agreement must be registered, not merely signed on stamp paper. Second, ownership is only truly complete when the land and the new building are conveyed (legally transferred) to a co-operative housing society formed by the occupants. Section 11 of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (MOFA), 1963, requires the promoter to convey title to that society; and if the promoter fails, Section 11(3) allows the society to obtain deemed conveyance through the Competent Authority — the designated District Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies. Our conveyance guide explains this last step in detail.

A worked example: from tenant to owner

Picture a four-storey non-cessed building in a Mumbai suburb with 12 protected tenants, each occupying about 350 sq ft of carpet area. The landlord owns the plot and the development rights; the tenants hold protected tenancies. A developer proposes to rebuild. Here is the typical journey.

1. Feasibility. The developer estimates how much the plot can hold — base FSI for that road width, plus premium FSI, TDR and fungible area. The area left over after rehousing tenants is the free-sale component that funds the whole scheme. Because these numbers are plot-specific, the society and landlord should run their own check on the FSI calculator and compare rival proposals using our offer comparison tool.
2. Rehabilitation area. This is where the certificate decides everything. If the building carries the MCGM unsafe certification, Regulation 33(7)(A) applies and each tenant's carpet cannot fall below 27.88 sq m (300 sq ft), with the plot-count bonus on top. Without that certification, DCPR 2034 fixes no minimum for a non-cessed tenant, each family negotiates — usually the existing area, often with a modest increase — and the agreed figure must be written into the PAAA in figures.
3. Consent and agreements. Each tenant signs a registered PAAA; the landlord signs the registered development agreement. Individual, registered agreements protect each family, so no one can be quietly dropped later.
4. Transit period. During construction, each tenant receives monthly rent for temporary accommodation, plus shifting charges and (usually) a one-time corpus. See our guide to possession and corpus.
5. Possession and ownership. On completion, each tenant takes possession of the new flat. The occupants form a co-operative society, and the land and building are conveyed to it — the exact moment a protected tenancy finally becomes ownership.

Conditions a non-cessed scheme must meet

For tenants of a non-cessed building to receive ownership flats, a workable scheme normally has to satisfy all of the following.

• Genuine, protected tenants. Your name should appear in rent receipts or the landlord's rent register. Occupiers who cannot establish protected-tenant status may not be treated as eligible for a rehabilitation flat, so fix any gaps in the rent records early.
• Landlord and tenant participation. The landlord owns the land and the free-sale rights, so a clean, bankable project normally needs the landlord on board plus the consent of the required proportion of tenants.
• Rehabilitation in ownership. Each eligible tenant must be given a permanent flat in the new building, in ownership, free of construction cost — not on continued rent.
• Registered agreements. Individual PAAAs and the main development agreement must be registered; an unregistered document offers very little protection.
• Transit rent, corpus and a hard timeline. The agreement should fix the monthly rent, the corpus, the completion date and the penalty the developer pays for delay.
• Final conveyance. The scheme must end in conveyance of the land and building to the new society, backed by the MOFA Section 11(3) deemed-conveyance fallback if the developer drags its feet.

The RERA safeguards that also apply

A non-cessed tenanted redevelopment is a real-estate "project", so the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 — enforced in the state by MahaRERA — usually applies. This matters because RERA adds a layer of protection that the old tenanted schemes never had. It also cuts both ways: Section 2(zk) defines a "promoter" by what a person does — constructing or causing to be constructed a building of apartments for sale — so a society or landlord that redevelops and sells flats can itself fall inside that definition, with the registration and compliance duties that follow.

Under Section 3, a project must be registered with MahaRERA before it is advertised or sold. There is a small-project exemption in Section 3(2):

Once registered, several sections work in the tenants' favour. Section 4(2)(l)(D) requires the developer to keep 70% of the money collected from flat buyers in a separate scheduled-bank account, to be withdrawn only in proportion to construction progress and audited by a chartered accountant within six months of each financial year — this is what stops a developer from diverting buyers' money and leaving your project half-built. Section 14 bars any change to the sanctioned plans without the consent of at least two-thirds of the allottees, and Section 14(3) makes the developer liable to fix structural defects for five years after handover. If the project is delayed, Section 18 lets buyers claim a refund with interest, or interest for the period of delay. For more, read our page on RERA for redevelopment.

Four questions that decide which regime is yours

Answer these in order, on paper, before you invite a single proposal. Each answer is a document you can obtain, not an opinion. For the full cessed scheme, see our guide to DCR 33(7) for cessed buildings and, for MHADA's wider role, MHADA in redevelopment.

1. Does the building pay MHADA repair cess? Your cess receipt or the MBRRB cess list answers it. If yes, and the building existed prior to 30/09/1969 in the Island City, you are on Regulation 33(7) and your entitlement list is certified by MBRRB, not by the developer.
2. Are the occupants tenants or members? Rent receipts and the landlord's rent register mean tenants; share certificates and the society's I-register mean members. Tenants in a non-cessed building point to Regulation 33(7)(A); members point to Regulation 33(7)(B).
3. If tenanted — is there an MCGM certificate that the building is unsafe for human habitation, or a lawful MCGM demolition order for that reason? Ask the ward office in writing. That certificate is the whole trigger for 33(7)(A). With it, 27.88 sq m per family is statutory. Without it, DCPR 2034 fixes no minimum for you at all.
4. If a society — is the building thirty years old, measured the way the regulation measures it? Obtain the Occupation Certificate date and the first property-tax assessment date from MCGM. Age is reckoned as on 1 January of the year the complete proposal is submitted. Under thirty years, Regulation 33(7)(B) is simply not available.

Where several old buildings stand together, there is a fifth possibility worth pricing before you commit: an urban-renewal cluster under Regulation 33(9), which carries its own layout and FSI rules and a statutory corpus of at least Rs 50,000 per tenement funding 10 years of maintenance — a floor that neither 33(7)(A) nor 33(7)(B) gives you.

What this means for tenants and landlords

The single most useful thing a tenant can do is settle their paperwork before negotiations even start. Confirm your name in the rent receipts and rent register; insist that every family signs a registered PAAA with the carpet area written in figures; and make sure the scheme is structured to end in conveyance to a co-operative society, not just possession of a flat. Read the draft against our list of red flags in a development agreement, and never rely on verbal assurances.

There is a tax angle too. When a flat is redeveloped under a registered agreement, Section 45(5A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, generally shifts the point at which an individual or Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) pays capital-gains tax to the year the completion certificate is issued, valuing the new flat at its stamp-duty (Ready Reckoner) value plus any cash received. And if you choose to buy extra area on top of your entitlement for Rs 50 lakh or more, Section 194-IA requires you to deduct 1% TDS and deposit it. These are only outlines — see our page on capital gains on redevelopment and take professional advice for your own numbers.

For landlords, the extra FSI is effectively the compensation for rehousing protected tenants — but it comes with a firm duty to deliver those ownership flats. A clean scheme, with clear title, up-to-date rent records, tenant consent and registered agreements, moves faster and is far more bankable with lenders and buyers. If your building is tenanted and you are unsure whether it qualifies, you can talk it through with our team when you register your society or building.

Where to find the official rule

The rules summarised here are published by the Government of Maharashtra. DCPR 2034 and its regulations sit with the Urban Development Department (Government of Maharashtra); registered projects and promoter obligations can be checked on the MahaRERA portal; cess and reconstruction matters for old buildings are handled by MHADA and the MBRRB under the MHADA Act, 1976; and the income-tax provisions (Sections 45(5A) and 194-IA) are on the Income-tax Department's e-filing portal. Because FSI norms, area rules and thresholds are revised from time to time, always confirm the current text on these official sources before you act. This page is general educational guidance, not legal or tax advice.