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Journalism of Courage
Giving credence to the expression good things come in small packages,developers across the country are offering studio apartments that,though limited in space,offer up a whole range of positives. Fully-furnished single-room units with all the amenities synonymous with an upper-middle class lifestyle have come up around Delhi-NCR,the Punjab tri-city area,Bangalore and Pune. This is different from the the trend in n the island city of Mumbai with its land crunch not helping realty expansion where small unfurnished single-room kitchen units seem the logical option for single working professionals.
The concept of studio apartments is not new,cities like Bangalore,Pune and Hyderabad that have bloomed with the IT boom,have seen a mushrooming of such apartments. A good investment option due to the large,often migrating,workforce of IT professionals,developers in north India have jumped on the bandwagon. Development plans here range from projects where studio apartments share space with larger units,to those exclusively for furnished single-room flats.
COMPLETE PACKAGE
Studio apartments are not the same and 1RK units even though they may have similar carpet area. While Mumbais 1RK flats are basic units that have to be done up to make it livable,comfortable,studio apartments are handed over to the end-user as completely self-contained units. With a separate bathroom,the living area,the bedroom and the kitchenette manage to retain distinct spaces in a 500-800 sq ft unit. The kitchenettes come pre-fitted with fridges,microwaves and even toasters. Sofas,beds,air conditioners,television sets with DTH8230; developers are giving these apartments the full shebang to woo customers.
Another avenue being looked at by developers is upgrading studio apartments to serviced homes with most of the services offered by hotels. Besides a concierge,room cleaning and laundry services,as well as a health club,swimming pool and sports facilities,projects are now offering facilities like in-building miniplexes,coffee-shops and restaurants,and business centres.
DEMAND SPURT
Demand for studio apartments comes from upper middle class professionals as well as companies who look to make such units rest homes for employees. Says real estate consultant N D Mehta,While earlier property purchases were seen coming only from those families whose earning members were in the prime of their careers,today,single young professionals as well as newly married couples are seriously looking at buying an affordable home. Developers have been quick to see this development and see more business sense in studio apartments.
Says Harinder Bashist,director of Vardhman Group,Developers have been quick to realise the growing demand for studio apartments. As they are more affordable,these units sell quickly. The group has already completed construction of Metropolis I in Greater Noida and bookings have started for Metropolis II that will come up in the same area. Testament to the high demand in this segment,all 300 apartments in Metropolis I have been sold out and 80 per cent of the 350 units on offer in Metropolis II have already been sold, he says.
Companies have begun purchasing studio apartments,sometimes as much as 15-20 units in a single project,to accommodate their employees who are required to travel for work. While hotels make sense for short visits,having a studio apartment offers a cheaper and logical alternative. These units solve the purpose of frequent travellers and working people travelling to different locations for their jobs, says Mehta. Being cost-effective,many working professionals are looking to invest in studio apartments after taking a home loan,as the EMIs normally work out to be as much or less than monthly rentals for bigger homes. With the amenities on offer,foreign nationals working in India also prefer picking up studio apartments over taking a house on a high monthly rental,he says.
FRESH STARTS
Delhi NCR: Apart from earlier announced projects by Unitech and Jaypee for Gurgaon,developers are now looking to cash in the studio apartment segment backed by growth in the number of young professionals in the area. With a large number of MNCs in Greater Noida,the demand for such homes is very high. We have seen companies pick up several floors,each with 15 units,in a single project. There are also a lot of investors picking up these apartments as they have an assured rental of around Rs 15,000 as all manner of amenities are provided, says Vikas Gupta,director of Earth Developers. The realty player,which has plans to build 200 studio apartments in its green project,claims to have already sold off 85 per cent of such units. These homes are priced at between Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. Jaypee Greens has also announced plans to build studio apartments in their Greater Noida township. Vardhaman Groups Bashisht says,For Metropolis I our 530 sq ft units were being sold for Rs 12 lakh,now they fetch close to Rs 18 lakh. The rate for Metropolis II,where the floor space is a larger 550 sq ft,is Rs 20 lakh. Construction for our first project is already complete and a third-party contractor is presently outfitting the apartments.
Bangalore: Studio apartments here can range from a small 300 sq ft unit to 980 sq ft. Real estate companies such as Purvankara,Brigade and CSC Homes have started projects in this segment in and around the city with apartments being priced between Rs 7 lakh to Rs 12 lakh. The Value and Budget Housing Corporation VBHC recently announced their Vaibhava projects that will see studio apartments sharing space with 1-2 BHK units. Priced between Rs 4.5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh,the size of units in the project range from 354 sq ft to 640 sq ft.
Pune amp; Mumbai: While no major developer has concrete plans for projects exclusively with studio apartments. There are several builder apartments that are being furnished into studio homes in Mumbais suburban areas such as Thane,Vashi and Navi Mumbai. According to Manu Gulati,managing director of Pune-based Trinity Realtors,Studio apartments in Pune work in areas where cost of land is high. Places line Viman Nagar,NIB Road,Kondhwa,Pashan and Baner have seen a rise in such constructions.
SOME HICCUPS
The general perception that exists among the new home-buying segment is that a small apartment equates to low-cost housing. People believe that developers may be fleecing them with sub-standard constructions and compromise on fittings and furnishing. For some developers,compact apartments,be it studio apartments or single-room units,were avoided because it usually entails additional construction cost of approximately 20 per cent. This is because of construction cost for additional walls,car parking slots and fixtures. Another factor that was working against studio apartments was the slowdown in the economy that had a direct bearing on the realty sector.
But with demand returning to the market,and a bigger population of your professionals with larger disposable income looking to make safe and beneficial investment in housing,there has been a spurt in developers plans for studio apartments. With bigger developers entering the segment,and with improved luxury furnishings,studio apartments are being perceived for what they truly are an unavoidable and necessary development in the face of space crunch. With better facilities on offer,buyers need not compromise on luxury either. Just make sure to check out the quality of the furnishings. l
Anshumali Ruparel contributed from Mumbai
