The demand for flats in and around Dhaka city will stand at around 1 lakh in the next 10 years as the government is yet to ‘play its proper role’ in
meeting the growing housing needs, according to a recent study. The 40-50 age group people are more interested to buy flats within the next three years, says the study completed in July this year.
Analysing the consumer responses, the study said the demand for houses in the upcoming three years will be around 30,000 to 40,000 units while it will stand at 60,000
to 80,000 units in the next five years and by next 10 years the demand will jump to around 95,000 to 1,30,000 units.
Currently, consumers are more interested to buy flats than build their own houses. People who already own a house or flat are still very willing to buy another
property which actually adds in the growth in the demand.
According to the study findings, younger segments are willing to purchase flats rather than building their own houses but in most cases they do not have any immediate
plan.
For building houses, people mostly preffer Uttara, Mirpur, Purbachal, Bashundhara, Mohammad-pur, Dhanmondi and Gulshan areas. For purchasing flats, consumers mostly
prefer Dhanmondi, Uttara, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Gulshan-Banani, Bashun-dhara and Malibagh-Mogbazar areas.
Among different occupational groups, businessmen, private bankers and doctors, both government service holders and private practitioners are willing to build their own
houses or purchase flats. The major sources of funds are bank loan and personal and family savings.
Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) sponsored the study, titled ‘A Comprehensive Study on the Real Estate Sector of Bangladesh’ supervised by its
research manager Leo Vashkor Dewri.
Dhaka University, IBA lecturers – M Iftekharul Amin, Sagar Sen, Syeda Mahrufa Bashar, assistant Prof of DU Statistics Department, M Golam Rabbani, Assistant Prof of
Institute of IT, DU, M Shafiul Alam Khan and Assistant Prof of Department of Economics, DU, Dr Rushad Faridi were the research associates.
With the increasing housing demand amid the growing population, ‘apartment culture’ has grown up in the country sharply, especially in Dhaka and Chittagong. The
apartment housing was first introduced in Dhaka by formal private developers in the early 80s.
It first appeared in Dhaka near Central Road and subsequently the city experienced a boom in apartment development in all residential areas, including Paribagh,
Moghbazar, Siddeshwari, Shantinagar, Dhanmondi, Mirpur, Banani, Old DOHS, New DOHS, Gulshan and Baridhara.
In line with this, house rent in Dhaka increased by 250 per cent between 1990 and 2007. The overall sale of flats dropped by 40 per cent over the two years, REHAB
General Secretary Engr Anisuzzaman Bhuiyan Rana told UNB over phone on Saturday.
“Shrinking bank loan for the clients, gas and electricity crises and uncertainty over political changeover are the three reasons behind the fall,” he said.
Bangladesh like many other developing countries faces an acute shortage of affordable housing both in the urban and rural areas.
Besides, housing affordability is being eroded by poor land administration policies, which have resulted in very high land prices that make urban housing prohibitive
for lower income groups.
-With The Independent input
