Finding somewhere to live in New Delhi

Builder floors, societies and what the difference means

A South Delhi builder floor is one storey of a small residential building, usually owned by an individual, often generously sized and characterful, with infrastructure that depends entirely on that owner. A Gurgaon or Noida society is a gated development with its own security, generators, water management, pool and gym, run by a management company. The society costs you a monthly maintenance charge and a set of rules; the builder floor costs you self-reliance.

• Builder floor: individual owner, more space and character, infrastructure varies.
• Gated society: maintenance charge per square foot, full backup, amenities, rules.
• Maintenance is charged separately from rent and is not trivial in a large flat.
• Ask who fixes what, and how quickly, before deciding which model suits you.

Finding it, and the price you are quoted

MagicBricks, 99acres, NoBroker and Housing carry the visible market, and local brokers hold a great deal that never appears. The quoted rent is genuinely negotiable and genuinely variable: the same layout in the same tower can be offered at materially different prices to different enquirers. The remedy is boring and effective — find out what two or three comparable units in the same society actually let for before you start.

• Portals plus local brokers; the broker's fee is typically around a month's rent.
• Benchmark within the specific society or colony, not the city.
• Negotiate the deposit as well as the rent — both move.
• A local speaker or colleague making the first call changes the opening figure.

The agreement

Leases are commonly written for eleven months, which sits below the threshold at which registration becomes compulsory, and renewed thereafter with an agreed escalation. Deposits run to two or three months in Delhi and Gurgaon. Get the escalation, the notice period, the deduction basis and the deposit return timeline written down, and have the agreement stamped as the local rules require.

• Eleven-month terms are the norm, with an annual escalation clause.
• Two to three months' deposit in Delhi and Gurgaon; often less in Noida.
• Confirm notice periods on both sides — they are frequently asymmetric.
• A signed inventory with photographs is your only protection on the deposit.

Power, water and the things that fail

The question that separates a good Delhi flat from a bad one is what happens when the grid drops. Ask whether the building has a generator, how many kilowatts it supplies to each flat, and whether that covers air conditioning or only lights and fans. Ask where the water comes from — piped supply, borewell or tankers — and what happens in May. These are not exotic questions; every resident knows the answer for their own building.

• Generator: does it run your air conditioning, or only the lifts and lights?
• Backup load per flat is often capped — ask for the number.
• Water source and whether tankers are needed in summer.
• Inverter and battery arrangements in smaller buildings.

In order

1. 1Choose Delhi, Gurgaon or Noida first, based on where you will work.
2. 2Decide between a builder floor and a gated society — they are different lives.
3. 3Benchmark two or three comparable units in the same society or colony.
4. 4Ask what the generator actually powers, and the backup load per flat.
5. 5Ask where the water comes from and what happens in summer.
6. 6Read the society or RWA rules before signing.
7. 7Negotiate rent and deposit together, and write the return terms down.
8. 8Photograph everything; attach a signed inventory to the agreement.