Co-operative Housing Society vs Apartment (Condominium): The Difference for Redevelopment

A co-operative housing society and an apartment (condominium) association are two different legal ways to own and run a building in Mumbai, and the difference matters a great deal the moment you think about redevelopment. In a co-operative housing society — registered under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 — the society itself is the legal owner of the land and building, while members hold shares and are allotted flats; redevelopment is a collective decision taken by the general body. In an apartment or condominium arrangement — governed by the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970 through a registered Deed of Declaration — each owner individually owns their apartment plus an undivided share of the common areas, and redevelopment depends on the consent of each owner. This guide explains both structures in plain language, how they change the redevelopment path, the conveyance differences, and which is far more common in Mumbai.

What is a co-operative housing society?

A co-operative housing society is a body of flat purchasers who come together and register a society under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (MCS) Act, 1960. Once registered, the society becomes a separate legal person that holds the land and building. As a member you do not own your flat as a standalone piece of property on paper; instead you hold shares in the society (a share certificate) and the society allots the flat to you for your use and occupation. This is why members are often called "shareholders".

Because ownership is collective, decisions are collective too. The society is run by an elected managing committee, but the real power sits with the general body — all members meeting together and voting. Everyday working, membership, transfers and meetings follow the Model Bye-Laws 2014 and the MCS Rules, 1961. The State Government can issue binding directions to societies under Section 79A of the Act, and a dispute between a member and the society goes to the Co-operative Court under Section 91 rather than to an ordinary civil court.

If your building is not yet registered as a society, or the paperwork is incomplete, our register your society service walks you through it, and the society bye-laws guide explains how the Model Bye-Laws govern day-to-day decisions.

What is an apartment (condominium) association?

An apartment or condominium set-up is created under the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970. Here the promoter (or the owners together) executes and registers a Deed of Declaration — a document that formally submits the building to the Act and divides it into individually owned apartments. From that point, each owner directly owns their own apartment as immovable property, together with an undivided share (a fixed percentage) in the common areas and facilities such as the lobby, staircase, lifts, terrace and open spaces.

There is no society holding the building on everyone's behalf. Instead, the owners form an Association of Apartment Owners to manage the common areas, following the bye-laws attached to the Deed of Declaration. Because each apartment is separately owned immovable property, the declaration and every document creating rights in an apartment must be registered under Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908. In short: a society owns collectively and allots flats; an apartment condominium recognises each owner as the direct legal owner of their unit.

Settle it this week: which one is your building?

Nothing else on this page can be applied until this is fixed on paper. Three documents settle it, and each has a place you can obtain it from. Work down the list and stop at the first row that answers.

If neither answers, that is itself the finding. Many Mumbai buildings run an unregistered "association" with a bank account, a PAN and a monthly bill, and no registration under either Act. Such a body is neither a society nor a condominium. It cannot hold title to the plot, it cannot pass a resolution that binds an unwilling flat owner, it cannot sign a development agreement for the building, and it cannot ask the Registrar for a recovery certificate. Registration comes first in any case: the deemed-conveyance application under Section 11(3) of MOFA is made by the registered body, not by an informal committee.

Society vs apartment condominium: side-by-side

Read this table with your own papers on the desk. Every row names a document or a provision you can check it against, so you can mark each line "confirmed" or "unknown" for your own building.

Sources: MCS Act, 1960 and Model Bye-Laws, 2014; Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970; MOFA, 1963; Registration Act, 1908; RERA, 2016; the Section 79A redevelopment directive dated 4 July 2019; DCPR 2034 (sanctioned), Table 12 — Greater Mumbai only.

How redevelopment differs between the two

The single biggest practical difference is who has the power to say "yes" to redevelopment. In a society it is the collective; in a condominium it is each owner. That one distinction shapes the entire process.

Redevelopment in a co-operative society

Because the society owns the building, redevelopment is a collective decision made by the members as one body. The Government of Maharashtra has laid down a detailed procedure in the Section 79A redevelopment directive dated 4 July 2019, which societies must follow. In outline it requires:

• A Special General Body Meeting (SGBM) with a quorum of at least two-thirds (2/3rd) of the total membership;
• Approval of the redevelopment by not less than 51% of the total membership;
• Shortlisting a developer who has at least one MahaRERA-registered project;
• A developer bank guarantee of 20% of the project value;
• Completion within 2 years of the plinth commencement certificate;
• A registered Development Agreement (DA) and registered Permanent Alternate Accommodation Agreements (PAAAs) with each member;
• The Registrar's authorised officer present at the video-recorded developer-selection meeting; and
• A bar on any committee member or their relative being the developer.

The full step-by-step is set out in our Section 79A redevelopment process guide.

Redevelopment in an apartment condominium

An apartment condominium has no single owner that can decide for everyone. Each apartment is the private property of its owner, so redevelopment turns on each owner's individual consent and on what the registered Deed of Declaration allows. Because the Section 79A directive is issued under the MCS Act, 1960, it does not automatically bind an apartment association formed under the 1970 Act; the association instead follows its declaration and its own bye-laws. In practice, gathering unanimous or near-unanimous consent from every owner — and, where needed, formally amending or revoking the declaration — can make the path longer and demand careful legal drafting.

Whichever structure you have, the developer building the new project must usually register it with MahaRERA under Section 3 of RERA, 2016, unless it is small — Section 3(2) exempts a project of up to 500 square metres or up to 8 apartments. That obligation falls on the developer and applies regardless of whether the building is a society or a condominium.

Which consent threshold applies to you?

"Majority" is the most expensive vague word in redevelopment. Six thresholds circulate in Mumbai, they come from four different instruments, and they are counted on four different bases. Find your row before you collect a single signature.

Sources: Section 79A redevelopment directive dated 4 July 2019 (MCS Act, 1960); DCPR 2034 (sanctioned), Regulation 33(7) — Greater Mumbai only; RERA, 2016, Section 14(2).

Run the same three lines for your own building before the first developer walks in. Our 79A process guide carries the full head-count table for other membership sizes.

Conveyance: a crucial difference

Conveyance is the legal transfer of ownership of the land and building. It decides who actually holds title when redevelopment begins — and it works very differently in the two structures.

In a co-operative society, the promoter is supposed to transfer title to the society. Section 11 of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (MOFA), 1963 makes it the promoter's duty to convey the land and building to the society. When a promoter fails to do so — a very common problem across Mumbai — members can obtain deemed conveyance under Section 11(3) through the Competent Authority (the District Deputy Registrar), who can execute the conveyance in the promoter's place. Our conveyance guide explains this in detail.

In an apartment condominium, title is handled through the registered Deed of Declaration and each owner's registered deed of apartment: each owner already holds direct title to their unit and an undivided share in the common areas, rather than the title sitting with a society. So the key conveyance question — "does the collective body actually own the land yet?" — is answered differently, and it is one of the first things to verify before redevelopment.

Where to go and what to file

Your legal form decides your forum. Taking the right complaint to the wrong forum costs months, because it usually comes back for want of jurisdiction rather than on the merits.

What to minute, and when

Three entries in the minute book prevent most later disputes, and they cost nothing to record.

• At the first meeting where redevelopment is mentioned — the total membership figure on the roll that day, in words and figures. Every two-thirds and every 51% is later computed on this number, and it is the number people fight about. Record it before anyone has an interest in changing it.
• Before the tender — the conveyance position: the registration date on the certificate, whose name appears on the property card, and the date four months after registration (Rule 9, MOFA Rules, 1964). If title is not with the society, minute that the deemed-conveyance application is being filed.
• At the developer-selection SGBM — the attendance count against the two-thirds quorum, the yes-vote count against total membership, the presence of the Registrar's authorised officer, and the fact that the meeting was video-recorded. A resolution challenged under Section 91 is defended on those four facts.

An association of apartment owners should minute the equivalent: the schedule of apartments with their undivided percentages, the owner of record against each, and each owner's separate written consent. A "majority" recorded in an association's minutes has no effect on an owner who did not personally sign.

Which is more common in Mumbai?

The co-operative housing society is the usual structure in Mumbai, and the redevelopment machinery is built around it: the Section 79A directive dated 4 July 2019, the Model Bye-Laws, 2014, the Registrar's forms, the Co-operative Court under Section 91, and the recovery certificate under Section 101 all presuppose a registered society. Apartment condominiums under the 1970 Act exist, but the framework written for them is thinner.

Rather than rely on any general statement, verify your own case: the Deputy Registrar for your ward holds the register of societies, and an Index II search at the Sub-Registrar on your CTS number will show whether a Deed of Declaration was ever registered against the plot. If your building is a condominium, you can still redevelop — but the consent has to be collected owner by owner, the Declaration and its schedule of undivided percentages must be read before drafting begins, and there is no general-body vote that substitutes for a signature.