Prospects of Service Apartment in Chittagong: An Exploratory Study

Rapid urbanization has become an acute problem for the country. The rate of urbanization is estimated to be 5-6% annually for Bangladesh(REHAB,2004)About 25% of the people of Bangladesh is now living in urban areas and 34%will be living by 2015(REHAB 2004). 50% by 20259 Singha D., 2004). There is acute shortage of housing supply in all urban areas. Moreover, in a study Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) shows that house rentals in Dhaka have more than doubled (249.62 percent) in last 17 years. In Chittagong the scenario is same. Tenants who are from middle, upper middle and lower middle class are worse victims of the rising trend of house rentals. The study has investigated the nature of service apartment to fulfill the housing need of the growing number of customers and the boost up the downtrend of housing business. The researchers have interviewed about 500 respondents from income group ranging from 20thousand and above. Several locations have been identified for service apartments and a good number of findings will help the prospective researchers and developers as well. Keyword: Housing, real estate, service apartment, housing market