Page 16 - CO JAN 2020

COVER STORY

students are increasingly opting for these spaces.
We stick to our mission of houses for
classes & masses, we plan to build about Co-working spaces
15 lakhs sq.ft. per year with a significant As far as commercial real estate is concerned, co-working spaces
part of product in affordable category for are expected to strengthen their position in 2019. It was a new
Pune market in our township project in the
coming years. Our new projects would be concept in India a decade ago, but not anymore. In the last few
in and around Pune, where our brand story years, co-working spaces have witnessed a lot of traction and
is strong. acceptability. While earlier only small businesses and individual
ADITYA DESHPANDE, DIRECTOR, professionals opted for it, now even larger companies are
CITY CORPORATION LIMITED occupying co-working spaces.
(AMANORA PARK TOWN)
Lucrative markets
If the choice is purely monetary, Ahmedabad and Noida property
markets are highly convenient as the average rate per square
for affordable housing is to combine the strengths of the private foot (psf) in these cities is as low as `1,200, the lowest seen in any
sector with those of the public sector in order to overcome major city. Incidentally, a large part of the upcoming stock would
challenges and in turn achieve superior outcomes. be concentrated in Noida.

The new PPP policy for affordable housing, introduced in While Mumbai remains the most expensive property market in
September 2017, allows extending central assistance of up to the country, buyers would find affordable property towards the
INR 2.50 lac per house to be built by private developers even on periphery, where property prices start from `2,100 psf. The arrival
private lands besides opening up immense potential for private of 254,559 fresh units in the city only makes it more convenient for
investments in affordable housing projects on government lands buyers to have their pick from a large stock. Investors looking for
in urban areas. The other PPP model introduced extends central options to earn handsome rentals and impressive appreciation
assistance of about INR 2.50 lac per each house as interest can explore the Hyderabad property market, a city that offers a
subsidy on bank loans as upfront payment under the Credit Linked much saner price range than most cities. While the starting price
Subsidy Component (CLSS) of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana here is `2,300 psf, rates can go only as high as `13,900 psf. On
(Urban). the contrary, one can see the upper limit hitting `94,000 psf in
Mumbai.
Co-living options
Co-living is not a new concept, but just got a new name recently. Improved infrastructure
Many people, especially students and young professionals, prefer The Smart Cities mission aims to create and maintain high-quality,
to share a house or apartment. Various privately-operated hostels 100 per cent efficient civic infrastructure. Electricity, sewerage,
or lodges work on the basic concept of co-living. storm water drainage and water supply will be strengthened in
Smart Cities, relieving the stress that large-scale housing projects
While such co-living trends have been around for several years invariably create on a city’s infrastructure.
now, they are getting more organised now. “Co-living is more than
a mere bed-and-breakfast deal. There are private bedrooms with Multiple financing options
access to common shared areas like the kitchen and living room. For Smart Cities availability of funding is ensured through
Such spaces offer convenience and an entirely new lifestyle for convergence with other government schemes like funds raised
young professionals. from the state governments, municipal debt, Real Estate
Investment Trusts (REITs), infrastructure debt funds, and the PPP
However, such co-living options are largely available only in vehicle. A stable cash flow will ensure successful completion of
metro cities. While it is largely major cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai,
Gurgaon and Pune that began promoting this concept, the
demand for co-living spaces is also gradually percolating to tier II
cities like Jaipur and Lucknow where both working millennials and

We have tied up with banks such that the
effective interest rate for the first time buyers
will be just around 5% per annum and they
can buy homes by paying a very small
down payment.
ABHISHEK LODHA, MD, LODHA GROUP

16 CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES|JANUARY 2020