With a large number of homeless people in India, a huge transformation is necessary to house the country’s growing population, over the next 20 to 30 years. However, this also raises a fundamental question of whether people will still continue to prefer to own homes in the future. Also, what changes will the residential real estate sector witness, in terms of security, demand, technology and other aspects?
According to Niranjan Hiranandani, CMD of Hiranandani Communities, housing, from the perspective of people’s need for shelter, will largely remain constant. “In the future, eco-friendly and automation will be important. In terms of the size of homes, we may see changes when it comes to mass housing. In Hong Kong, for example, the latest trend is of compact homes that fit into a large diameter pipe. By 2040-50, we will definitely see many more changes,” says Hiranandani.
Changing needs vis-à-vis residential real estate
Experts believe that future houses may shrink in size but they will be extremely efficient in terms of utility. For example, we may see more modular homes, with rooms having sliding walls that can be adjusted as per one’s needs.
“The rapid change in transportation systems, like maglev trains and hyperloop, will change how home buyers choose their preferred locations. The world is already moving to a culture of working from home. So, in the future, we may see skyscraper apartments of 500 or 700 storeys, from where all routine work can be carried out without the need to step out,” opines Kamlesh Thakur, joint secretary, NAREDCO west.
See also: Higher budget allocation may boost Housing for All scheme: ICRA
Experts believe that the selection of location for future homes, will be extremely important as the future apartments will be self-sufficient, catering to all the needs of residents, like the workplace, healthcare, school, markets, etc. Home seekers are likely to accord high priority to safe and secure homes that would be in sync with futuristic living standards.
Shortage of drinking water could become critical over the next 20 to 30 years and hence, we may also witness the development of affordable technologies for converting seawater into potable water.
Challenges for home buyers in 2040-50
According to Thakur, the main challenges that home buyers of the future will face are:
- Affordability.
- Joint ownership, as future families will be of migrating nature. This will also affect the balance between ownership and rental apartments.
- With the advancement in medicine, increased life expectancy and ageing population, providing proximity to healthcare and support systems for residents, will be a big challenge.
- According to estimates, the population of the world will quadruple by 2040. This will put tremendous pressure on the requirement for water, food and renewable energy, besides recycling of waste.
- Living in communities is also likely to be significantly different for home buyers, as compared to the present, as neighbourhoods become more multicultural.
The real estate sector is likely to undergo big structural changes by 2040-50. “There will be enhanced focus on affordable housing and enabling homes for the LIG and EWS. The concept of luxury housing will also be redefined. A likely shift for home seekers, from ownership to tenancy, lesser importance on location-based pricing as rapid transportation becomes the norm, longer tenures for property mortgages, privatisation of civic services and the emergence of service providers who will provide quick services are some of the possible changes that we can expect in the urban landscape, in the future,” concludes Hiranandani.
Amit Sethi is an accomplished professional with a distinguished background, holding an MBA in Finance. As an Independent Journalist and Data Provider with 20 years of invaluable experience, his expertise lies in meticulously covering stories on Real Estate, Personal Finance, Business and Banking. He writes journalistic content for leading media publications in India and also provides analytical data to real estate and fintech companies. Amit is driven by a purpose to disseminate insightful narratives, using verified information to empower individuals with financial literacy. Through his work, he aims to assist people in staying aware and making informed decisions that positively impact their financial well-being. Amit is a fitness freak, a marathoner and likes trekking.
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