Builders shift focus to 1 bedroom, hall and kitchen flats

BHUBANESWAR: The concept of studio apartments and single bed room houses has caught the fancy of real estate developers here. They are developing exclusive one BHK (bedroom, hall and kitchen) projects or ventures having 30% to 40% such units. These are mostly coming up from Khandagiri Square to Jatni, besides Chandrasekharpur, Patia and Chandaka. A 200 unit project floated at Tamando recently has 40% one BHK houses. An estimated 3,000 units of one BHK houses are in different stages of construction, real estate watchers said.

Last week, a developer announced to launch a 164-unit four-storied project of fully furnished studio apartments close to the upcoming All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), eyeing bachelors' accommodation once AIIMS becomes functional. Studio flats, which combine a living room, bedroom and kitchen into a single room, is a new trend here though it is already very popular in cities like Bangalore and Gurgaon.

Builders see huge opportunities for "efficiency" apartments in Bhubaneswar to accommodate the singles. "Bachelors would look for houses close to their workplace. For them, compartmentalization of the housing unit into drawing, dining and kitchen space doesn't make any meaning. That is builders are eying this segment while creating studio apartment in Patia and Infocity areas, said Anup Kumar Mahapatra, a developer.

Builders feel people can afford to buy one BHK houses but such units are in short supply. On the other hand, with no demand for 2/3 BHK houses, the housing price is almost stagnant in city for around two years now. "To ensure a steady cash flow, builders are focusing on smaller units for which there are buyers," said Pradipta Kumar Biswasray, president of Real Estate Developers Association of Odisha (REDA) who has launched the Tamando project.

A one BHK house costs anything between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 18 lakh depending on its size and location. Builders are offering such units of size 450 sq ft to 750 sq ft.

"For a buyer looking for a house below Rs 20 lakh, there were very few options earlier. Builders are trying to tap these groups," said D S Tripathy, president of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), Odisha branch. That is why besides one BHK houses, small two BHK units of size around 900 sq ft are also coming.

Government authorities see the new trend as basically a demand-supply gap. "Since developers went on creating 2BHK and 3BHK houses, there are plenty of such houses already available, but there are very few in the BHK segment. The market is doing an automatic readjustment to reduce the demand-supply gap," said Bhubaneswar Development Authority BDA) planning member Prashant Patnaik. Patnaik said many builders were seeking approval to make changes in their original plans to accommodate single bedroom flats.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com