The second law approves the draft proposed by the National Consumer Protection Authority (ANPC), which states that real estate agents must provide consumers, prior to the signing of the contract, with information related to the building which they are about to acquire. Main elements about which agency clients must be informed are: market prices, the building’s legal status, the estimated level of costs to be paid by the consumer, and of commissions charged by the real estate agency, as well as sources of noise and pollution. Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said that persons who will benefit from this drop in VAT will be ones who did not previously own a home, and those who live in neighborhoods such as Pantelimon, Drumul Taberii, Colentina, Berceni who want to move from their crowded one-bedroom apartment to a bigger home. “The construction cost of a housing unit is €1,000 and the developer pays VAT worth €190. A housing unit’s sale price is €1,500, for which the developer should receive €190 to deduct taxes paid on construction, but he will now recover only €75 from the buyer, with the remainder deducted by the state,” said Gabriel Biris, Managing Partner of the Biris Goran law firm. He added that a five percent drop in VAT is actually a 14 percent drop in housing unit prices. Players on the real estate market reacted positively to the new law. However, developers remained skeptical regarding the effect this will have on the construction industry. (A.U.)
