Should you buy a flat in standalone building or a township?

Naushad PanjwaniKnight Frank India

Buying a house is a very important decision in anyone’s life. There are so many considerations one needs to take into account before you arrive at the decision. One particular quandary that one faces is whether to be part of a township or buy an apartment in a standalone building. With the cost of land and size of land required, it is virtually impossible to construct a township in the city center or affluent residential districts in a city. As townships require large tracts of land, upwards of 100 acres, most townships mushroom in peripheral or distant suburbs on the outskirts of a city. While the land prices will be cheap, substantial investments are required in infrastructure and land development. Keeping this in mind, it can be safely deduced that if you are looking for a city centric property then it will be a standalone building.

However if one is looking at upcoming suburbs then one may get an option to choose from. And here it is important to understand the pros and cons of each type of development. A well-designed standalone building constructed by a reputed developer and offering good amenities will offer you exclusivity, status and a certain affluence value. From a resale perspective, a well maintained property with good gentry will always fetch you a premium over a massy development. The maintenance maybe higher because of the high-end amenities, superior upkeep and this high cost shared between few apartment owners. The other advantage of such standalone buildings are that as there are few members, managing and decision making is easy and fast. But such developments are not self-contained and it becomes imperative to ensure that the social infrastructure like schools, hospitals, shopping, etc. of such localities is well developed.

On the other hand, a well-developed township offers numerous advantages. It offers quality of life at a very affordable price. One will take a decision to move to distant suburbs primarily because of the lower of apartments. And to incentivize members, developers provide a great social infrastructure and do not depend on public facilities like schools, hospitals, club houses, malls, open spaces, sports amenities, etc. There is economy of scale in all aspects which accrue to the inhabitants of a township right from cable, internet, gas and other such connections to subsidized transport, convenience stores etc. The only thing one needs to be wary of is the road and rail connectivity. One must ensure that there exists good and comfortable transport systems connecting to main business districts or nodal stations or at least the work on such projects have started and will be completed in the near future.

Being large in size having numerous units, the character of such townships is by and large cosmopolitan in nature. Community halls are available for social and family functions and this is a big plus. Availability of ample parking is a big plus. In the past such townships were very difficult to maintain as there are numerous stakeholders. Now-a-days good developers focus on continuing to remain involved in the upkeep and management of townships bringing professionalism in maintenance and governance.

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Naushad Panjwani

Founder & Managing Partner |Mandarus Partners

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From family’s point of view, townships are far safer not only because of the high security but because of them being gated communities. They are also self-contained and family members, particularly the senior citizens do not need to venture out for shopping, entertainment, recreation or medication. The open areas provide great quality of life.From resale perspective, the township needs to be a very good one for sales to happen fast; else it may be difficult to find a buyer where so many units are for sale at any given point of time.

All-in-all both kinds of apartments offer enough plusses and challenges and one may try and match ones needs with what’s being offered and the relative price of that.