During 2008-09,the peak of the global recession,every major property developer spoke of building more affordable housing: smaller size units typically in far-flung areas that could be bought for Rs 25 lakh to 40 lakh.But as soon as the market perked up,the affordable talk ceased.
Three years down,while no developer is screaming from the rooftops about affordable housing,a fair number of launches are happening in this space.Sushil Mantri,CMD,Mantri Developers,says the volume segment remains constant in the good days and bad days.But a lot has changed between 2008 and now.
In 2008,Golden Gate launched its value housing concept Commune amid much fanfare.But the project,which comprised 3,000 units off the Mysore-Kanakapura road,didn't take off.
The location was wrong as it neither had social infrastructure nor good public transport connectivity, says Sanjay Raj,CEO,Golden Gate.Commune has been hived off into a subsidiary company,Commune India,which will relaunch value homes in the price range of Rs 22 lakh to Rs 35 lakh this month.
Location is key and were launching projects situated close to business clusters,schools,hospitals,shopping areas,and places with good connectivity, says Raj.He adds Commune India would only have 2-BHK and 3-BHK units as thats the aspirational quotient among consumers.One-BHK units at Rs 17 lakh are not aspirational enough for a first-time buyer, says Raj.
Viswa Prathap Desu,VP (sales and marketing),Brigade Group,shares a similar view.He has done away with 1-BHK units at Brigade Orchards after receiving feedback from the earlier value housing project Brigade Meadows.
Desu says,Initially,at Meadows,we hadn't made provisions for balconies for 2-BHK units as the additional space would automatically increase the ticket size per unit by Rs 1.5 lakh. Customer feedback was clear: Were ready to pay more provided we get everything an apartment has. Brigade put in place the balconies and has sold over a 1,000 of these homes.
POCKET- FRIENDLY
VALUE HOMES IN CITY
Price range: Rs 17 lakh to Rs 40 lakh
Unit size: 900 sqft to 1,200 sqft
HOW ARE THEY AFFORDABLE
Reduced area: Traditionally an average 2-BHK unit in Bangalore is 1,200 sqft to 1,300 sqft.In value projects,a 2-BHK is between 900 sqft and 1,000 sqft
Low construction cost: Typically building structure is low-rise with G+4,maximum of G+6,floors
Shorter period of construction: Low-rise structure and adoption of construction technologies such as aluminium formwork and building information modelling enables developers to complete project within 1824 months,thus decreasing collection time and improving returns
Farther from city centre,where land costs are lower
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