How Pollution Is Making Housing Unaffordable

If data is to be believed, 80 people die in the national capital of Delhi every day, because of the city’s dirty air. Moreover, what does not kill, does not make you strong in this case. Prolonged exposure to bad air can cause life-threatening diseases, ripping our bodies of all vitality. However, that is not the only way pollution makes our lives hard. The impact pollution has on housing, has alarmingly dire consequences on humans.

“People living in the city have to consider how to find relatively healthy residences, in a city severely impacted by haze and as a result, people tend to choose their living areas according to their earnings and preferences for air quality. This, in turn, means that air quality is capitalised to housing prices,” says a research paper published in PubMed Central journal that analyses the co-relation between the two factors in China’s Chengadu.

In a country where some major cities are vastly impacted by pollution, cities where the situation is still bearable witness an upturn in demand. Within the city, areas where air quality is comparatively better, would also see a rise in demand. Since there is only so much supply, rates will hit the roof in the long run, making the areas almost impossible for afford for the common man.

What makes matters worse, is the fact that even comparatively clear cities will turn dirty with increased construction activity that is bound to happen, on account of the rise in demand.

Growing awareness

Homebuyers of today factor in environmental issues when they plan their investment. If the pollution levels are increasing, so is the awareness about it and the tendency to avoid it.

In London, for instance, a national air pollution awareness campaign was launched in May 2019 to target the property market.

Using crisp and right-on-the-money billboard slogans such as "location, location, lung disease”, “the neighbourhood’s gone to the docs” and “these houses cost an arm, leg and a lung”, this campaign would help homebuyers check the pollution levels in localities where they intend to buy property in London, one of the most polluted cities globally.

“Like crime rates, Wi-Fi speeds and schools, we are going to make air quality a major consideration in the housing market,” Humphrey Milles, the founder of the Central Office of Public Interest, the non-profit advertising group running the campaign, was quoted in a report by The Guardian as saying.

Close home, it is much the same.

“It hardly makes any sense to pledge your life’s savings and earnings potential, for a home where living won’t be easy. Of course, one’s desire to own a property is overpowering, but one would refrain from attaining that satisfaction if it comes at the cost of living in a gas chamber-like situation,” says Kawanpreet Singh, who owns a property in Delhi’s Anand Vihar, which is counted among the most polluted locations in the national capital. Singh has been looking for a buyer to offload this property for five years now, without any success.

Impact on investments

If a city is notorious for its high pollution levels, it would inspire little confidence in consumers to invest in properties here. In case leaving immediately is no option ─ some people abruptly left the national capital of Delhi when pollution levels touched record levels in the previous winter and a thick layer of smog kept lingering over the skies for weeks ─ they would opt for a rented accommodation and leave as soon as they are in a position to do so.

For that very reason, they would find it hard to get buyers. In the long run, this would lead to large supply in areas with little demand and huge demand in areas with little or no supply.