Affordable Housing: 5 Best Practices For The Pre-Development Phase

The rising demand for affordable housing has made the segment lucrative for developers too. While developers are more than willing to launch affordable projects and be a participant in the Narendra Modi-led government's Housing for All initiative, expensive land and certain other challenges make it difficult for them to deliver a well-equipped project for masses.

There are many developers who also demand a public-private partnership wherein the public sector could look into providing land at affordable prices for projects, single-window and time-bound clearances, better local development bye-laws apt for affordable housing projects and better-structured taxes and levies from the perspective of reducing the cost of home ownership for the target segment. On the other hand, the private entities can provide their competencies, including planning and design, project development, technology best practices, project financing, human resources and sales and marketing.

For developers who are up and ready to foray in the affordable housing segment, there are certain best practices they could follow in the pre-development stage. These best practices could help formulate a project that is a win-win situation for both the stakeholders as well as homebuyers.

What is pre-development stage?

Pre-development stage is the foundation stone wherein the developer plans the project and then works towards its execution. This includes searching for the land and beginning the acquisition process, looking for partnerships that could bring together the best of know-how, performing due diligence and getting required approvals from the authorities. Once all of this is in place, a developer is in a position to announce the project.

The best practices in this stage include:

Market it right

Are you building your first affordable project? You will be going out to a completely new set of audience who have seen your brand as a premium housing developer, projects of which are way beyond their reach. The first move is to create your visibility among this new audience and in a way that they connect with your brand. Promote the idea and your vision for affordable housing widely among the new set of audience. Use various online and offline platforms to promote the idea that you want to do good to the community and provide them with best of amenities at affordable prices. Use social media, press activities and set up site visits where you can promote what the project has in store for a homebuyer looking for an affordable house.

Plan a mixed-income project

For a project to be a success and also, earn good profits do not focus on only one segment of the audience. Construct a mixed-income property that offers a mix of subsidised apartments. This way you could cater to a wide audience and solve both the purposes of providing affordable housing and also, achieving profits, too.

Acquired land? Use it optimally

We all know land comes expensive, especially in real estate hotspots. For an affordable project to be a success, the land that you acquire should be utilised optimally. Zone the land and keep a large chunk for building as many units as possible. Make sure the purpose of providing habitable housing is prime.

A blend of need and resources

Figure out what your audience expect out of the project, the market trends and then look at the resources you have at hand to fulfill this. For a project to be successful, these three things need to be in sync. A strategy that could make the project a success and yet keep you away from shooting up the budget. Begin with researching about other affordable projects in the city, the amenities provided, the design model among others. Now budget whether or not you could match up or do better. And, design your plan.

A streamlined relation with public sector

The public sector is what you will be in constant contact before, during and after the completion of the project. This includes land acquisition, approval of building plans, safety certificates and also, taxes. Keep in constant touch and fulfill all the requirements on time and let the work be streamlined.