Publication: The Hindu

The task of purchasing a plot, embarking on getting the house built and the joy of seeing it take shape brick by brick, seems to be passe as the current trend favours flats.

Buy a plot, set up a fence around and keep it secure for years while financial resources are pooled to build a home. Follow it up with discussions with friends and relatives who built their homes, to share their experiences, more rounds of discussions with architects and engineers.
And then, hit the streets to enquire about masons, carpenters, electricians and plumbers and also visit the stores to check about pricing and availability of cement, steel, sand and timber. A tiring task, isn’t it? There used to be joy derived as the home took shape brick by brick and space by space. But how many these days actually have that kind of time to spare for such an endeavour and are interested in taking it up?

Surely not many, for the trend of buying a plot and building a home registered a visible decline in the last decade. While the available land and plots in the city and its immediate suburbs got almost exhausted during the boom, the coming in abundance of the option of ready-to-move-in homes has changed the preferences.

This approach, particularly related to the urban areas and tier-I and tier-II cities across the country, has caught on with the city here also. A recent survey by the real estate portal ‘Makaan.com’ to assess the mood of property seekers in major cities for the year 2012 had apartments topping the chart. While 66 per cent of those surveyed stated apartment as their choice, residential plots logged in 14 per cent of preference. The portal sought to describe it as ‘typically an urban phenomenon and reflects the sentiments of home buyers living in tier 1 and 2 cities in India’. It also went on to add that it could be because of the security and community living benefits that an apartment can offer.
The trend is also reflective of the fact that a majority of today’s property seekers are youngsters, tied down with their hectic work schedules and on the move, that render availability of time a major issue for them.

As a builder points out, the choice of NRI youth too has shifted from plots since they can check the available projects on developers’ website, sift through amenities on offer, check and re-check credentials of the developers online before freezing on a buy. “You will be surprised how these youngsters network online to get details and enquire about different projects,” he says. For most of the young buyers, the cumbersome process of taking up construction of home does not seem to hold much appeal. “Time factor apart, we will feel lost in the maze of the processes of getting a home built. From where to find mason and plumber to locating the construction material sources is a task we are not prepared for,” says K.Murali, software professional who recently acquired a flat near Nallagandla.

Many factors influence the decision towards apartments and one of the key aspects being ‘no worries on maintenance’ once you move in. Most of the apartments these days come with facilities of on-call carpenter, mason, plumber and other related personnel to attend for repairs and other services.

There is a general perception too that apartment blocks are more secure for the family since the entrance and exit is manned and visitors are screened.
Today’s apartments also have on offer a host of other amenities and most of them are locating mini-super market, salon and in some cases even ATMs within the campus, which is turning out to be irresistible for most.

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