Studio apartment supply falls as Covid makes people stay at home: Study

Average size of studio apartments was largest in the National Capital Region and smallest in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, finds Anarock

Housing projects offered fewer studio apartments in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, reversing growth in the segment, said a study on Thursday.

Of the 884 projects launched in 2020 in seven major cities, 130 offered studio apartments (a 15 per cent share). As many 1,921 projects in 2019 offered 368 (19 per cent share) studio apartments, said Anarock Property Consultants.

A studio apartment has a single large room that doubles up as a living room, bedroom and a kitchenette. “The studio apartments trend so far can be clearly plotted. Out of the total 2,102 projects launched in 2013 in the top 7 cities, just 75 projects (or 4 per cent) offered studio apartments. The share increased to 5 per cent in 2014, followed by a y-o-y increase in the overall share of projects offering this configuration. This growth trend remained consistent till 2019, when the share was highest at about 19 per cent,” said Anuj Puri, chairperson of Anarock.

“In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, bringing with it the uniquely new WFH and study at home compulsions requiring larger homes,” Puri said, referring to people working from home and not stepping out as precaution against the disease. “The onus also suddenly shifted from expensive central locations to the more cost-effective suburbs and peripheries. In a single year, studio apartments' new supply share dipped to 15%.”

Of all projects with studio apartments launched in seven major cities between 2013 and 2020, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (NCR) and Pune together accounted for a 96 per cent share

The average size of studio apartments (built-up area) was largest in the National Capital Region (400 sq. ft.) and smallest in MMR (300 sq. ft.).

Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad in the south appeared lukewarm to studio apartments: just 34 projects between 2013 and 2020 in the three cities offered this housing.

The seven years displayed a clearly defined growth trend in terms of the number of projects offering studio apartments in the last seven years. Unsurprisingly, MMR has the highest supply share among the seven cities in this period. Of 5,442 projects launched in MMR between 2013 and 2020, at least 25 per cent offer the studio apartment option. The numbers are less spectacular in other cities, Anarock said.