Reporter’s Diary: Gurugram’s growth story comes with a housing asterisk

Gurugram’s jobs and rising salaries attract workers from across India, but housing costs, commuting and daily expenses make owning a home difficult.

After nearly two decades of reporting on Gurugram, I find one concern unchanged despite the city’s rapid growth, expanding roads, changing neighbourhoods, rising real estate prices and repeated promises: owning a home here is becoming increasingly difficult for the middle class.

Affordable housing schemes have offered hope, but many middle-class families remain dependent on housing draws while property prices continue to test their budgets. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

Over the years, I have met hundreds of residents, homebuyers, salaried professionals and families searching for a place they can call their own. Gurugram attracts people from across the country with the promise of jobs, better salaries and professional growth. Many arrive hoping to secure their future and eventually buy an apartment. Until then, they rent, spending a sizeable part of their monthly income on housing.

Sooner or later, I hear the same question: if so much is being paid as rent, why not pay a similar amount as an EMI and own a home?

But after speaking to buyers and following their calculations, I know it is rarely that simple.

An EMI is only one part of the monthly expenditure. Maintenance charges, electricity bills, school fees, groceries, medical expenses and commuting costs add to the burden. Those travelling long distances to work also spend substantially on fuel, cabs and public transport. By month-end, little may remain for savings, emergencies or even small comforts.

What makes the issue more painful for me is that a home is never merely a property transaction. It is stability: decorating one’s own living room, bringing parents home, giving children a permanent address and escaping the fear of rising rent or shifting houses. I have seen buyers become visibly emotional while discussing a possible purchase because, for many, it is the biggest financial and personal decision of their lives.

Affordable housing schemes, including projects under the Deen Dayal Jan Awas Yojana, have offered hope to some families. Yet many others continue waiting for their names to appear in housing allotment draws. Each draw brings anticipation, followed by disappointment for those left out.

As a reporter, I continue to meet people asking whether they can afford the EMI, pay for their children’s education, manage maintenance and commuting costs, and still save.

Gurugram has created enormous employment opportunities. But a city that draws people in must also make space for them to live with dignity. A home should not be a privilege reserved only for the highest earners.

After two decades of reporting from this city, I often wonder what happens to the dreams of those who build its offices, drive its cabs, teach in its schools, work in its hospitals and keep its neighbourhoods running. They help create Gurugram every day, yet many remain outsiders in the city they serve.

Perhaps that is the most uncomfortable question the city must confront: What does development mean if the people who make a city prosperous cannot afford to call it home?

Leena heads the Gurugram bureau and has extensively covered civic issues, the environment, crime, real estate and politics.