How Housing Unaffordability Affects Your Personal Life
She was a 23-year-old dreamy-eyed girl when Kakoli Sen came to live and work in Delhi. In the middle of rising rents and often receiving a piece of her various landlords' minds for her life choices, Sen kept waiting for the day when she will be able to save enough money to be able to make the down-payment for a house in this city. Banks will only be too eager to provide her a home loan at lower interest rates, the business journalist is aware. As the time passed, Sen advanced in her career, earned bigger and strived to save further to be able to accomplish the task. At the time of booking her flat, Sen was already approaching her 30s. To be able to do things on her own, Sen has been postponing her wedding plans despite the pressure that is building around her, from the society in general and from her family in particular. At 31, Sen is finding it hard to find a suitable groom. She is quite set in her ways, unwilling to make adjustments. But that is not the only predicament. Typically in India, it becomes hard to find grooms once you have crossed your 20s.
There could have been another way to do things. Like Nikita Anand, Sen's former colleague, did. For Anand, “settling down” was the priority. So, she married at the age of 27, and is now trying to use her savings combined with her husband's to buy a house. Obviously, they need a big unit close to the city, buying which is not going to be an easy job. The couple needs to save more. In the middle of all these, their families are pressuring them to start their family. However, Anand is not willing to bring her child into this world unless she can afford to have a roof of her own. Her husband shares Anand's views.More importantly, having a child would increase their expenses, something they cannot afford at all if they have to buy a house.
It may or may not have occurred to us but housing unaffordability – a much debated problem that has posed serious challenges before authorities worldwide – in ways often unimaginable. Who would have thought they will be postponing their wedding plans because they cannot afford a house? Even if they did not that is what might be happening to most young people of the salaried class. However, this is not to suggest other income groups are any less affected. These people live in rented houses and aspire to own a place of their own before they begin a new phase in their lives.
The latest edition of the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey has ranked 29 major housing markets as severely unaffordable. Another analysis by Oxford Economics shows property markets of Hong Kong, Mumbai, Beijing and Shanghai are among the most unaffordable in the world. These trends indicate that your personal lives have just got more complicated because authorities might be finding it hard to make housing affordable in our respective countries.
Also Read: Why There Is A Need To Make Affordable More Affordable