Good morning, there is no infrastructure and real estate development accelerator like the Olympics.
Tokyo is facing a USD12.7 billion bill for hosting the Olympics this summer, nearly twice as much as originally forecast. But going over budget is common for Olympic host cities - the average cost overrun for host cities since 1960 is 172%, according to Oxford researchers.
But each festive season, we wonder if there's anything festive in the universe without a cost overrun.
😷↔1 metre↔😷
Telangana Governor: Make Housing Affordable
One of the things we intend to do next year is run a weekly note on affordable housing, which will hover around this thought - how can housing be a human right as well as a highly profitable and speculative commodity at the same time?
Quantum physicists, please excuse 😅
Starting Young
Telangana is India's 29th and youngest state but you have to give it to those guys because they are enterprising, industrious and above all, want to avoid big mistakes, like letting the cost of housing in the state spiral out of reach.
Here's Proof...
🎙 Speaking at CREDAI's Telangana State Conclave, 2021, Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan urged real estate developers of the state to come up with affordable housing models.
Then she went on and nailed it by adding that housing must be sustainable, energy efficient and health promoting, as in homes with better natural illumination, ventilation and insulation.
Finally she requested developers to try and build an exclusive 'book room' in every housing project.
Bottom Line?
Women are sorted. And Telangana is lucky to have Dr. Soundararajan at the helm of affairs.
A Quick Note On Web3
If you’ve been online in 2021, chances are you’ve heard the term Web3 appearing with increasing frequency.
That’s because there’s a fast-growing movement to build the next version of the internet - thus the “Web3” name - based (mostly) on the Ethereum blockchain.
🔼 Believers say Web3 will bring in a new internet era where individuals can have more control over their data and experience, while corporations could have less power.
🔽 And while Web3, and crypto more broadly, face immense scepticism, one of the biggest criticisms is around its carbon footprint.
Co-Living To Grow 2X Over The Next 2 Years
Whenever you see the terms metro city and affordable housing together on Ginger Chai, the news can't be good. You see, decent housing in our top cities is not affordable.
However, co-living offers a miraculous housing solution to those on a budget, by letting multiple people conveniently share a living space, and thus split the living cost.
Even Miracles Face Headwinds
The concept of ‘shared economy’ got severely tested during the first lockdown. With job losses and a total closure of education campuses, demand for co-living sank like a stone.
Then, between December 2020 and March 2021, co-living occupancy crossed the 45 – 50% mark as the market improved, going on to touch 60-70% occupancy in Q1, 2021.
However, the second wave battered the economy and from Q2, 2021 onwards, occupancy dipped sharply again.
But, But, But...
The shared economy is back in demand - riding steady on the high vaccination rate and an overall economic revival - and is expected to have 4,50,000 beds by 2024, a number that stands at 2,10,000 beds today, per a Colliers report.
With the unemployment rate down to 7% in November 2021, a gradual dip from 11.84% in May 2021, robust hiring by IT, Healthcare and Edutech companies, and re-opening of college campuses, the young are thronging back to the metros and many are opting for the convenience of co-living.
Higher Demand And Returns Wooing Players
The growth in co-living is being pushed by two major forces at play.
📌 One, increasing migration to cities is creating a steady uptick in demand for co-living, a trend that is expected to continue in the long term, and...
📌 Two, co-living is offering attractive returns; 2-4 times higher than the traditional residential yield of 2-3%, translating into a compelling opportunity for investors.
Yummy TV
A Japanese professor has developed a prototype TV screen that can imitate food flavours and all you have to do to experience it is lick the screen.
The device, called Taste the TV (TTTV), uses a carousel of 10 flavour canisters that spray in combination to create the taste of a particular food.
The flavour sample then rolls on hygienic film over a flat TV screen for the viewer to try. We're not buying the ‘ew’ thingy because admit it, a screen is probably not the worst place you've put your mouth on. [Image: Reuters]
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We hope you have a chilled out weekend with lots of tasty (and real) food going around.
Stay safe, see you Monday. 💚
☕ The Crew@Ginger Chai