Customers prefer quality, brand reliability in affordable housing segment: report

The brand name of the developer and the quality of the product are the prime factors considered by customers while selecting a house under the affordable segment, according to RICS-Knight Frank report.

"In the affordable segment, the supply is not catering to all the needs of buyers, therefore, there are aspects which are missing in the projects," said Gulam Zia, Executive Director, Knight Frank India.

The aim of the report is to have customer responses on various factors relating to affordable housing, he added.

The report titled ‘Affordable Housing-Know your customer’ also mentioned about the apprehensions of the customers while selecting an affordable housing project which included safety and security, timely delivery of the property to name a few.

It further mentioned that for 53 per cent of the home buyers, self-use is the main purchasing driver. While 48 per cent highlighted better location and 44 per cent said that expanding family-size are among the important drivers for their decision to buy houses.

According to the report, around 80 per cent home buyers put cost as the top most consideration while buying a home followed by safety and security for 71 per cent of home buyers.

The affordable housing segment offers great potential which is yet to be fully explored. This segment will perform better if the needs of customers on security, safety and lifestyle attributes are successfully executed and energies stay focused on delivering these within the promised cost and time frames, said Nimish Gupta, Managing Director, South Asia, RICS.

The report said that from customer's perspective Mahindra Lifespaces, Lodha group, Ashiana group and TATA value homes are among the top ten developers providing affordable housing