The rental and capital values of apartments that lack parking spaces have dropped by 15-20 percent, brokers in Bengaluru said.

Additionally, a lack of parking space by the local municipality body forces people to park in front of their houses, thus leading to frequent altercations.

Recently, Koramangala resident Subhasis Das shared a note left on a car window that read: “Hi, please don’t park your car here!! We had already requested you not to do so earlier. Please understand that we have been living in this area since the year 2000, and own 2 cars.”

Real-estate depreciation

Kiran Kumar, founder of Hanu Reddy Realty, added that most of the houses built early or in the mid-2000s lack a garage. Hence, people park in front of their houses.

While the rentals and demand for gated societies with dedicated parking spaces are soaring, he said rentals for buildings without parking facilities have already dropped.

While a 2BHK with a parking space in Bengaluru commands a rental of Rs 40,000 monthly, without parking facilities, it will be Rs 18,000-Rs 22,000. Apartments selling at Rs 1 crore are being priced at Rs 70-80 lakh for lack of parking space.

“Most of these houses are located in congested primeS areas close to CBD like Indiranagar, Koramangala and towards the IT corridor of Whitefield,” Kumar said.

Lack of parking space has also started affecting the luxury apartments in town. For example, a 2BHK apartment priced at Rs 2 crore in Indiranagar’s posh Defence Colony has failed to strike a deal, even at Rs 1.4 crore, due to the unavailability of parking space.

Sunil Singh, founder of Realty Corp, added that, today, most millennials own a car, and queries for buying apartments with dedicated parking have doubled since last year. “We even saw lotteries happening in gated apartments for choosing the best parking space available,” he added.

For apartments that lack parking space, homebuyers look for renting out parking spaces in open areas, like fields nearby, for a rental of Rs 5,000 – Rs 10,000 every month.

Illegal encroachments plague residents

The narrow bylanes of the city are often encroached by illegal commercial buildings, and roadside parking leads to major impediments for residents, especially in prime areas like Indiranagar.

Swarna Venkataraman, a resident of Indiranagar, added that the commercial boom in the area has infringed on areas meant for residential purposes. “With several pubs and shops springing up, most party-goers or shoppers use the roadside for parking, thus blocking our residents’ access.”

For others, a rapid real-estate boom has led to a fighting for parking spaces.

When Ajay Shankar, a techie, constructed a house in Koramangala in early 2000, he had enough space to park his car in front of his home. However, today with growing real estate and widening roads, we had to rent out a parking spot for Rs 5,000 per month,” he added.

To date, Karnataka Urban Development Department has already approved the parking policy, which requires annual permission. The fee for small cars is Rs 1,000 per year and Rs 4,000 for SUVs. Additionally, commercial parking is at least 1.5 to 3 times more.

However, residents say a lack of enforcement, most importantly, awareness has led to escalating the parking plights in Bengaluru.

source : moneycontrol