Probably the first thing that strikes us when we think of a gated community is that its congested living with security.  And then comes to our mind the list of amenities like a park, swimming pool, maintained streetscapes and for the plusher communities it goes on to include basketball, tennis, badminton and squash courts, community center with multi-purpose halls and so on.

But if we dig deeper to understand what the common public thinks of community lifestyle perhaps the perceptual answers are not quite aligned with the reality.  So we decided to put together a list of misconceptions versus the true reality of how some reputed builders are canvassing the urban-gated community lifestyles for you.

Myth 1: It’s extremely congested!

The most common misconception surrounding the idea of living in a gated community is that it would be extremely crowded with swarms of people at every nook and corner of the society. The perception is that builders would leave very little open space, as they would want to derive the maximum profit from the area they are building on.

Fact 1: Gated communities have 60-80% of open spaces.

The reality, however, is completely contradictory to the perceptions that commonly prevail. The game changes of this industry, now a day, are aiming for a minimum of 60% of open spaces and are hiring premium designers for their landscapes. The motive is to re-create peaceful, traffic free, sun-kissed open spaces that can be used by people living in the community either for solitude or for socializing.

Myth 2: It’s high on maintenance!

Public is also led into a fallacy that to be able to avail all the benefits of the gated community lifestyle they’d have to render a whooping sum as maintenance cost.

Fact 2: Community living maintenance costs are quite reasonable.

Responsible developers, who are passionate about their offerings, are hiring third-party on a long-term contractual basis for maintaining the community, which includes, cleaning of the roads, pedestrian pavements, gardening, paying the gate guards and security. This, in turn, has given rise to a pool of facility maintenance companies, which compete on pricing ultimately leaving the end-customer (i.e. the resident) benefiting from their price wars.

Myth 3: It lacks privacy!

One of the most disturbing and common misconceptions about gated communities is that the neighbours seem to be interfering with each other’s business all the time. The idea of several families staying in a single building gives rise to the misconception that they would hinder each other’s peace and privacy, leading to unwanted hassle.  

Fact 3: Community living gives priority to your privacy.

Responsible and reputed builders always keep the population density in mind, while designing the layout of their communities. The density of the population in gated communities is controlled by intricate planning and preparations in respect to occupancy rates.  Basing this as a parameter, the open spaces are developed, giving you both privacy and harmony.

Myth 4: It’s quite expensive!

Since the gated community is the new status-quo, people do relate this lifestyle to a high-dollar value thinking that only the affluent section of the society can afford such a high maintenance lifestyle.  

Fact 4: Community living is budget friendly too.

The ever-evolving real estate companies have realized that gated communities are what today’s home-investor aspires for, but the only obstacle they face while investing in it is the price tag attached to it. Hence, they know that relaxing that obstacle will open a floodgate of possibilities for them.  This is precisely the reason why builders are offering community lifestyle in various investment brackets nowadays.

Gated communities in India, according to common perception, symbolize wealth and security but these perceptions are not all-encompassing. There are more pros of community living than the cons. So, if you are planning to buy a property in the near future then it’s time to rethink and keep your options open!