Home buyers turn cautious after the recent fatal illegal building collapse

The demand for real estate in Mumbai is soaring and there is simply no denying the fact that the masses from all over the country are moving into the city of dreams to live, work and prosper. Taking advantage of the exodus, are a bunch of developers who begin building residential apartments without prior permissions and proper inspection by government authorities. This obviously pulls down prices and attracts people moving into the city and those looking for an inexpensive place to live. However, life isn’t a bed of roses for the residents of buildings as such given the fact that more often than not, these illegal constructions use lower grade building materials, making them a life-hazard to those residing in them.

Mumbai Building Collapse

The recent building collapse in Mumbai killing nearly 70 people has brought the dangers of living in illegal constructions to everyone’s realization. As a precautionary method, the civic bodies of Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mumbai rallied under a banner together and started off a drive to spot more dilapidated and illegal constructions across the city. According to the report, “It is difficult to ascertain visually the deterioration or distress of building structure.”

The report was carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and went on to state, “It is difficult to measure the efficacy of survey methodology adopted by the board. The fact that 37 people died and injury to 39 persons between 2008 and 2011 due to collapse of seven buildings, even after a survey by the board, is a pointer to the inadequacies in the existing survey system.”

Real estate sales in Mumbai haven’t really taken a hit however with the news of illegal structures pouring out. Instead, those investing in real estate in Mumbai have become slightly more cautious while making their purchases and have begun seeking for more legally appropriate homes.

Real estate in Mumbai goes vertical

 

The city’s skyline is soaring upwards. More than a decade ago, the first skyscraper graced the Mumbai horizon. Called the Shreepati Arcade, this 500-foot-high 45-storied tower sprouted up at Nana Chowk in Grant Road in 2002. Now, a decade later, skyscrapers have nearly turned common-place in a city quickly growing vertically. More than 50 towers with 60 floors and upwards are under construction. Many more that have crossed the 70 meter mark are showing up across Mumbai. And this isn’t particularly surprising, as empty plots in Mumbai turn rarer by the day. So, instead of spreading out horizontally, the city has begun to take to the skies instead, increasing the availability of  property in Mumbai substantially.

Areas in South Mumbai, particularly Lalbaug, Parel and Sewri, have undergone a tremendous makeover in the last few years. Once home to mill workers and lower-income groups, these areas now boast high-rises with residential apartments priced at around Rs. 5 crore! Lower Parel, yet another quickly growing neighborhood, currently plays home to the 65-storied Indiabulls Sky and the 75-storied tower at the Jupiter Mills. Worli on the other hand has the 80-storied Raheja Platinum, while the 55-storied Lodha Bellissimo graces the Mahalaxmi skyline.

Says Hafeez Contractor, an architect known to reach for the sky, “Mumbai has a population of 20 million and but its area is only 470sqkm. When you are looking at such a large population over a small area of land, vertical is the only way to go.” According to Contractor, the city will cross the 30 million population mark in the future and to cope with it all, real estate in Mumbai needs to grow vertically. “How will Mumbai deal with such an increase (Population)? The only answer is to increase the FSI (Floor Space Index). Only when we do this will the city gets on its own feet and earns enough to create the infrastructure that will be needed to sustain this vertical growth.”

It’s time more real estate developers in Mumbai begin adding-on the floors instead of spreading around. After-all, the future lies in the sky and a perpendicularly growing city is a mark of opulence! To know more about commercial offices, shops and residential apartments located in skyscrapers and high-rises in the city, visit www.snapghar.com today!