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.
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? Gurugram offers homes across segments, but affordability remains a serious challenge. For those in higher salary brackets, life here may be manageable. For an ordinary employee, even a meal at a decent restaurant can become an occasional luxury. The city has premium apartments, malls, corporate offices and expensive lifestyles, but not everyone working here can afford to participate in them. 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. 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. 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?
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.
