What is gated community?
Also called: gated society, gated complex, gated colony
A gated community is a residential complex with a boundary wall, a controlled entry and shared amenities, run by a residents' association that collects maintenance from every owner. It can be apartments, villas, villaments or plots.
The gate is the least interesting part. What you're buying into is a small private government: an association that owns the common areas, sets the maintenance charge, hires the security agency and decides when to repaint the towers. Under Section 11(4)(e) of the RERA Act, the builder has to help form that association within three months of a majority of the units being booked, and then hand over the common areas and documents to it.
Maintenance in gated communities in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Pune usually falls between ₹2.50 and ₹6 per sq ft a month, depending on amenities. That pays for guards, lift maintenance, the sewage treatment plant, diesel for power backup, housekeeping and the pool. Big clubhouses and landscaped acres look good on site visits and cost money every month for decades.
There's also GST to watch. If your monthly contribution to the association exceeds ₹7,500 and the association's annual turnover is over ₹20 lakh, 18% GST applies to the whole amount, not just the part above ₹7,500.
Before buying resale in an established community, ask for the last two years of association accounts and the minutes of the general body meetings. They show whether the sinking fund is healthy, what repairs are pending, and how residents and the committee get along.
A 2,400 sq ft villa in a Gachibowli gated community pays ₹4 per sq ft, or ₹9,600 a month. Because that crosses ₹7,500, the association adds 18% GST of ₹1,728, taking the bill to ₹11,328.
Not checking whether the builder has handed over the corpus fund and common areas to the association. Until it does, the builder keeps control of the money and the maintenance contract.
Questions people ask about gated community
Are internal roads in a gated community maintained by the municipality?
Usually not. Roads, lights and drains inside the gate are private common areas maintained by the association from the maintenance charges.
Can the association restrict renting out my flat?
It can make reasonable rules through its bye-laws, like registering tenants or police verification, but a blanket ban on letting out your own flat is generally not enforceable.