#XRBIA Chembur Central – Making Lavish Living Affordable


wealthymattersMumbai is a city where real estate is so expensive that a lot of people, even those who are far from poor, make do with tiny homes in old dilapidated buildings and others resign themselves to living in far off suburbs in the MMR where homes are cheaper and then suffering the inevitable long commutes into the city.

Now the problem of living so long in an environment where we train ourselves to expect less by way of lifestyle, as an inevitable compromise to get on with the business of making money in Mumbai, is that we often forget to open our minds enough to ask if this much of compromise with the quality of life of ourselves and our children is really inevitable. For those of us living a cramped life in really old houses, are there no other locations where the houses are newer and the social infrastructure comparable to those in older neighbourhoods of the city ?And for those of us commuting for hours everyday, are  there no better located homes, such that long commutes are cut short and we literally find time to actually live life in the Maximum City? Read more of this post

Affordable Housing Defined


wealthymatters,comThe Government of India defines affordability as follows:

For lower income group, apartment should not exceed four times the household gross annual income. For the middle-income group, the prices should not exceed five times the gross annual income.

Similarly, the rent should not exceed 30 per cent of the monthly salary for the lower income group. For the middle income, it should not exceed 40 per cent.

In other words, for a middle-income family, which earns Rs. 30,000 a month, any apartment costing more than Rs.18 lakh is unaffordable.For the poor  who earn about Rs.10, 000 a month, apartments priced more than Rs. 5 lakh is unaffordable.

This is something to think about when investing in real-estate.

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