Where are Mumbai’s bungalows?

Bungalows and cottages in other prime real estate areas like Bandra and Shivaji Park are also on the verge of extinction. Realty analysts state that ninety per cent of bungalow transactions that happen today involve developers. Only a handful of end-users purchase one with the intention of living in it.

“Bungalow owners are eager to capitalise on large values and price their property as per the FSI potential of their plot and not on the value of the land alone. As a result, it is very rare that someone buys it for self-use,” said Aditi Vijaykar, head of residential services at Cushman and Wakefield.

Yashwant Dalal, president of the Estate Agents Association of India, cites the case of a buyer who is eager to purchase a 100-year-old bungalow on a 2,000 sq mt plot at Napean Sea Road. “He is even willing to shell out a staggering Rs 200 crore for staying there. However the owners are asking for nothing less than 350 crore, a price which only a developer with intentions of razing the bungalow and erecting a tower can afford,” says Dalal.

The only place, which for a long time retained its bungalows, was Juhu: the abode of several yesteryear filmstars. But slowly, even these bungalows, which had star struck fans longingly gaping at them, are going under the sledgehammer. Unlike other parts of the city, the model followed by the rich and the famous here is that of joint development. “Over the last four years, about 40 per cent of bungalows that have been redeveloped here have been cases of joint development where the owner aligns with the builder to demolish his home for a tower. The owner, mostly a high net-worth individual, keeps a few floors for himself, rents out few others and gives the rest to the builder,” said Sandeep Sadh, CEO of Mumbai Property.

The majestic homes of film stars like Shatrughan Sinha, Hema Malini and producer Gaffarbhai Nadiadwala at Juhu Vile Parle Development Scheme (JVPD) are currently undergoing similar joint development behind corrugated tin sheets. Very few bungalows, belonging to industrialists and stars like Dharmendra, Jitendra and Amitabh Bachchan, are still standing strong at JVPD.

Filmmaker and JVPD resident Ashok Pandit points out people now prefer to live in vertical towers than be dwarfed by high-rises from all sides. “The bylanes in JVPD are meant for low-rise bungalows. Now with 50 families occupying a high-rise that has been built on a bungalow plot previously inhabited by one family, it is straining the infrastructure that is not prepared for high-rises,” said Pandit, whose two-storeyed building is set to metamorphose into a ten-storied tower. He adds that Juhu is losing its character like Bandra, where several cottages have been flattened over a period of time.

In Bandra, late actor and MP Sunil Dutt had earlier razed his bungalow ‘Yaadein’ and constructed the twin tower Imperial Heights where his children occupy four flats. A couple of blocks away was actor Dilip Kumar’s bungalow that figured in the draft heritage list earlier this year. However much to the dismay of conversationalists, the bungalow had to be struck off the list of honour as it was demolished to make way for a high-rise six months ago.

“People dread getting on the heritage list as it means that their bungalows cannot be demolished,” said Sharada Dwivedi, historian and conservationist. She adds the rich prefer to redevelop their bungalows out of the fear of being eclipsed by high-rises in the vicinity; several others find it more lucrative to sell than maintain them as in the case of several bungalows at Bandra and Kotachiwadi. “The government could incentivise preservation of bungalows by reducing property tax or offering them soft loans for maintenance. We have proposed addition of several bungalows in the new heritage list. But builders have already got wind of it and by the time the list is eventually notified by the government, very few will survive,” she says.