Realty Plus in conversation with Ar. Yatin Patel

In the terms of design and architecture, how did the year 2018 fare? The Real Estate market made a strong comeback through the year 2018. The residential sector in top cities saw stable growth while the Commercial Developments especially within the IT sector saw a steep surge. Opportunities for Architecture and Design services across these sectors have been encouraging. Companies have seriously considered transitioning towards longer lease spaces vis-à-vis standard lease tenures, consolidation of offices to unified locations, partnerships with co-working companies, technology driven smart offices, sustainable spaces and much more. The key focus has been on investing within design and real estate to positively impact the wellness and experience of people inhabiting the space in addition to just the immediate skyline of the city.   DSP Design commands a strong foothold within Commercial Architecture PAN India. The business growth curve for us has been great within Master Planning, Architecture as well as Interior Design.  To sum up, we’re carrying forward the goodwill from 2018 with frequenting clientele onto 2019; this time around; across borders!     How would you rate the government's achievements with regards to infra and realty sector?   Drawing inferences from a report released by KPMG in September, 2018 - RERA, GST, Ind AS 115, IBC, REITs have been the reforms that shall in parallel drive the change in the industry.   RERA has gripped the consumer market for good with the report revealing that more than 55% of the total 35 states and UTs had no Appellate Tribunal. Although, GST has ironed out multiple-layers in taxation, it has received mixed expressions from the industry. Ind AS 115 is said to have just about short-term implications in times to come. IBC has been an endeavour to expedite and create urgency among all stakeholders to address to the bad loans that have been negatively impacting the balance sheets of banks. REITs has been a ray of hope towards alternative investments.   There are also, a number of long-term initiatives that are said to bear fruits in 3-4 years from now, specifically within the affordable housing segment that promises good incentives to developers.   How has the building and construction sector performed during the year? The Construction & Building sector has performed well with the approval processes simplified across India. In context of the city of Mumbai particularly, the implementation of DCR 2034 has served the domain pretty well. International entrants in the building materials segment have fostered competition in terms of bringing cutting-edge construction technology and cost efficient building material solutions thereby optimizing timelines dramatically.