Searching For Affordable Homes? Micro Apartments Are Trending

Providing huge discounts on under construction flats and lucrative offers on furnished apartments are tried and tested marketing tricks. Developers today need fresh ideas and one such trend emerging in affordable housing is the 'micro apartment'. But can micro apartments become the solution for affordable housing? Decreasing the apartment sizes can accumulate more flats in the given land area for a residential building.

There is hardly any major price difference in 3BHK apartments that were launched a few years ago and the ones today. Although, developers have tweaked the size of the flat while keeping the number of rooms the same. It is being tried in flats above 2BHK so that bigger flats will become a bit more affordable and buyers might opt for a  3BHK unit or above from most sell-able 2 BHK type. This is a smart trick given that the developers stand to gain without compromising on buyer's interest.

Do note that owing to the construction of these optimum spaces, a few accessories that are expensive for both buyers and developers may now stand trimmed. Here are some interesting facts:

Ornamentation and expensive accessories now only need-based

While searching for apartments with smaller sizes, it is advisable for homebuyers to check for issues such as furnishings and other fixtures.  Developers may cut down on the decoration part (under fully furnished flats) because it adds to the cost of the unit and buyers today are looking for reasonably priced homes over ornamental ones. The accessorising can also be done at a later stage depending upon the feasibility and needs of the buyer.

Small-sized apartments can address housing shortage

With an increasing migrant population, which needs homes to move in at first place, providing this additional housing space (by decreasing flat sizes and making them affordable) may be the right move to lure buyers. Though, realty experts believe that this reduction is barely uniform. Data suggests that real estate developers are decreasing flat sizes only in some parts of the country (mainly in Tier I cities) where homebuyers are comfortable with smaller houses. But across the country this trend is hardly observed.

Have you heard about the concept, Tiny Homes? Read more about it here.

Shoebox size units

All the major Tier I cities like Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune have witnessed varying degrees of fall in median apartment sizes. Realty experts say that constructing smaller houses was the sector's 'major trend'. In 2015, 4,000 newly launched apartments were less than 500 sq ft in size. Last year (i.e. 2016) it had increased by 330 per cent to 17,180 units. If this trend continues over the next few years, then the time is not very far away when the Delhi NCR residential complexes will be all about "shoebox-size units".