VIEW POINT - Good Governance and Better living

FAYE DSOUZA





When choosing a home the biggest decision obviously is choosing the builder and the project but the decision should also be backed with an assessment of the civic and social infrastructure of the location.The physical infrastructure and social amenities will impact the future price appreciation of the property. So, it is important to run through a checklist of requisites before making up the mind. This list should be helpful.
Social Infrastructure:
Check the neighbourhood for schools, colleges, hospitals and a local market.One should be able to access all these services within a few minutes travel from one's new home. There should be adequate parking at these locations and easy access from the roads. Look for recreational facilities as well. Malls, shopping centres, movie theatres and parks for children. The closer these facilities are, the better the price appreciation.
Physical Infrastructure:
Check the location for traffic during rush hour in the morning and the evening. How long will it take to access the roads that take one to one's place of work? Is the road wide enough to handle the added traffic that the project in question will add to the neighbourhood?
Find out if there are plans for flyovers, new roads or Metro stations that will ease the traffic in the future. Do a check on the number of residential projects coming up in the neighbourhood. All new projects will add traffic to the access roads in the future and impact the travel time.
Civic Amenities:
Ask around for details on the water supply, gas pipelines, electricity and water drainage. Make sure the house is not in a location that tends to flood because of water logging during the monsoon. Ask around for reviews on the local government's track record for fixing roads, clearing garbage and town planning. These factors will impact the future price of the home.
Land usage around the project:
One can contact the local authorities to find out the purpose of any empty plot of land around the project. If the land is earmarked as a public space, a park or a playground that is a positive. If the land might be developed in the future for residential property then one may run the risk of a building coming up in front of the one where one lives in, this will impact the amount of sunlight and ventilation in the home in the future.
Potential for Job Creation:
Look for IT parks and business hubs, places that will create job growth.Employees who prefer to live close to their places of work will prefer to rent homes close by. This will increase the rental yield and resale potential of the home in the future.
The ability of the local government to manage the neighbourhood well is of paramount importance especially in new neighbourhoods like Greater Noida in the NCR, Thane in the MMR, Whitefield in Bangalore and PCMC in the Greater Pune region. A good government will impact investment decision for corporates looking to set up business in the city, it should also impact the buying decision --The writer is editor, personal finance and real estate, ET NOW.
Sep 19 2015 : The Times of India (Pune)