If you are the kind who likes to live in a home of your own, there is good news for you. Residential layouts are gaining a lot of popularity in Bangalore. “Traditionally Bangaloreans love sites in residential layouts. It was only in late 1980s’ that the apartment culture came into Bangalore. When it first came, people felt apartments would not be popular and die a natural death. Such a mindset is basically because Bangalore is known for its planned residential layouts for a long time. And it all started almost a hundred years ago when the Maharajas of Mysore came out with residential layouts in Malleswaram and Basavanagudi,” explains Balakrishna Hegde, President, KOAPA. Another reason for popularity of residential sites allotted by BDA is because of the reasonable pricing as well as the luxury of owning a separate property.

Says S Vijayakumar, Director, Nimisha Corporation India Pvt Ltd, “Many residential layouts are coming up around big cities. Land prices in the middle of city and main business districts are rising rapidly and going out of the reach of the common man. Housing in these areas is exorbitantly high and these problems paved the way for many residential layouts coming up around the city. Attention is being paid to see that these residential layouts are well planned and self containing with all the amenities, so that the need for visiting the city centres is considerably reduced. If we take the case of Bangalore city, many residential layouts are coming up around Hosur road, Sarjapur road, Bannerghatta road, etc. Looking at the traffic congestion and spiralling land prices, people are looking towards new residential layouts. Many times we have witnessed that many projects are sold out before completion. Nowadays many integrated townships are coming up with residential, educational, medical and commercial facilities.”

Projects galore

Golden Projects has a project “Classic Elmwood”, a layout approved by BMRDA. Located on Bannerghatta Road, it is properly connected to all the parts of the city. Sarala Birla International Residential School, markets, hospitals and recreational facilities are easily accessible. Classic Elmwood is available in various dimensions and sizes, which makes it easily affordable for every kind of person. It also has facilities like well-designed all-weather roads lined with trees, box-type storm water drains, RCC overhead tank to supply ample water to each site, ready-to-connect underground sewage lines from every site and sodium vapour streetlights among others. A front runner in developing residential projects in Bangalore is Vakil Housing Development Corporation (VHDC). There numerous projects include Vakil Satellite Town on Sarjapur Road, Vakil Garden city on Kanakapura Road,Vakil Whispering Woods on Hosur Road, Vakil  Hamlet and Vakil Townscape in Jigani, to name a few. Says Mohammed Ali Vakil, Director, VHDC, “We specialise in gated community residential layouts. Till date we have successfully completed six residential projects.” 

Pros and cons

A site is a must in anyone’s asset portfolio, just like shares or mutual funds.They are cheaper, appreciate faster and fetch greater returns. Also, they are very easy to sell, when needed. The advantages of residential layouts are planned roads, parks, more lung space, security systems, swimming pools, jogging tracks, children’s playground, provision of built-in crèches and kindergartens among others. Self-contained residential layouts are being touted as a panacea to common problems of a metro. “The rate at which Bangalore is budding, it’s evident that areas in and around will develop at a steady pace. No investment will be a dead asset. Moreover, projects in the market have unique offerings that are on par with international quality,” says Vakil. Investment to profit ratio is higher.

However, before you invest, be aware of the legal validity of the land, requisite approvals by planning authorities and maintenance after the project is sold out. The buyers need to carefully consider the location and entry price. Government approvals must be clear and complete as compared to apartments where the buyer can divert rent earned by leasing the apartment towards EMIs. One can’t do the same when buying a site. Prospective buyers should not forget to check the list of approved layouts by the authorities. These lists are available on the internet for the benefit of the people. It is better to check all the relevant records before it is too late. “Although the government is coming up with Akrama and Sakrama scheme to regularise the systems, there is no guarantee that every time there will be such schemes,” says Vijayakumar. It is always better to be aware of property taxes, income taxes and wealth taxes and pay them on time to avoid penalties. Before buying any property, be aware of duties, fees and charges involved. “My only suggestion to BDA is that while planning residential layouts, roads should be planned scientifically with separate lanes for U turn, left turn, right turn and also bus bays, which will ensure uninterrupted and smooth flow of traffic. In addition, electrical lines should always be underground because the overhead lines are a bad source of visual pollution,” says Hegde. So exercise caution and choose the correct property. After all home is where the heart is!