Many Real Estate Developers continue to believe that people find it hard to adapt to living in apartments. Regardless of designs, there are reasons such as monotony and independence influencing the choice of conventional housing to apartments.
In light of the city’s ambition for more sustainable urban densities, it is both inevitable and appropriate that apartments become the dominant mode of housing families in the future.
With the emergence of many real estate companies, Devtraco continues to touch on the provision of apartments in the country. This development made by Devtraco has made apartment living more attractive in the country. The evidence of this can be seen in the East End Condos, located in Tema and the plush Devtraco Plus in the prime areas of Accra.
What is an apartment?
An ‘apartment’ or ‘flat’ is a dwelling that does not sit on its own parcel of land but is part of a larger building and typically has other dwellings above and/or below it. An apartment building comprises several such dwellings. An apartment building can have other uses as well, such as retail or commercial premises, often on the ground floor. The owner of an apartment dwelling holds the title for that dwelling only (and potentially an ancillary area such as a car space). The remaining areas such as the entrance foyer, lifts and communal gardens/open space are owned and managed by an owners’ corporation.
An apartment building can be a low or mid-rise development and may contain only a handful of dwellings, such as the East End Condos at Tema Community 25. An apartment building can also be a major, high-rise development with a large number of apartments. Apartment buildings over four storeys are considered as mid or high-rise. There are numerous layouts and floor plates for apartment buildings depending on size, height and function. New apartments are usually marketed to buyers based on the number of bedrooms they provide, typically one, two or three.
Apartment living in Accra involves a high degree of interdependence between the units’ owners who own and share the communal space and the external structure of their apartments. This interdependence is the reason why some form of overarching body is needed to own, manage and maintain these shared areas. Residential management companies hold the lease to the common areas in both apartment developments and privately managed estates. They also hold the lease to the external structure of apartment buildings.
Apartments built today in Accra will exist for many years to come. It is important to note that this new development makes a lasting and valuable contribution to the city.
While it is impossible to foresee and accommodate all eventualities, apartments that can more easily be re-organized or renovated in the future, in response to demographic shifts or changes in living preferences, and ultimately made more sustainable.
Sometimes it might be desirable to change the use of certain parts of a building, between residential and retail. For example, to convert service areas such as car parks to more active use, or to convert smaller apartments into family dwellings. All these possibilities are easier to accommodate.
Apartment building is a cardinal innovation to the housing systems in many cities today. Predictably, it is here to stay.
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