Accommodation can be classified into three categories—owned houses, rented houses and houses typically provided by employers. While home ownership is one of the main aims of household savings, almost one-third of Indian urban households live in rented accommodations. Not owning a house because of financial reasons is just one of the reasons for living in rented accommodation. People could also do so because of work, proximity to facilities such as education, hospitals, etc. However, across the five main consumer segments, a larger share of households live in their own homes in the more affluent segments, while almost 10% of the lowest income segment live in accommodation that is classified as neither owned nor rented, pointing to the type of work and occupations of the socio-economic category (SEC) E segment. The richest SEC A segment, that has the highest share of households earning—more than Rs. 10 lakh a year—finds it the easiest to purchase homes. At the other end of the spectrum, the poorest SEC E households, with the highest share earning less than Rs. 3 lakh a year, have less than 60% living in their own homes. While this trend works across the country, northern states have a slightly higher share of households living in their own homes. Also See House Ownership Trends (PDF) In SEC D and SEC E segments, more than 60% of the households live in their own homes in the northern states. This could reflect in part the lower home values in towns of the north. It could also reflect the trend of people migrating from these states to other regions, who may choose to live in rented accommodation. Looking at the share of households in owned accommodation, Delhi, Pune, Coimbatore, Madurai, Ludhiana, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata rank at the bottom in the SEC E segment. Even in the SEC A segment, there are many who live in rented accommodation because of work reasons—cities such as Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata have less than 60% living in their own homes in this segment. Once again, finer segmentation of urban consumers gives more insights. The highest share of households living in their own homes—more than 80%—are found in two segments, both whose chief wage earners are in their mature years. In the affluent category, this is the richest segment in urban India—households whose chief wage earners are well educated, businessmen, executives or professionals, married and living in joint families with their grown up married children. Next to these households, from the less affluent category, comes the fifth largest consumer segment in urban India comprising households whose chief wage earners are school educated businessmen or skilled workers, married with grown-up, married children. It is by this stage in life that the chief wage earners are settled in one location and have saved enough to live in their own homes. The segment with the highest share of households living in quarters that are neither owned nor rented has chief wage earners with the lowest education and skill sets, single and living alone in the cities. This group is the tenth largest in size in urban India and comprises mostly those with regular salaried jobs, accommodation seems to be one of the benefits given by employers. The segment which has the highest share of households living in rented accommodation—more than 75%—comprises those whose chief wage earners are young, single, graduate professionals or skilled workers. Clearly, the single status is the dominant characteristic influencing the decision to live in rented houses, even as they put money aside for owning a home once the chief wage earner is more settled. In fact, those households who are living in joint families are more likely to be living in owned homes, than nuclear families.

1. Published: Mint dated 20th June, 2011
The heterogeneity
that characterizes
the modern Indian
consumer has
created a maze
that marketers
would like to
unravel in order to
target their
products and
services precisely.
In this fortnightly
series, Indicus
Analytics will
present the various
facets of urban
consumers, across
geographies and
socio-economic
groups
Indicus Consumer Data Products

2. Accommodation can be classified into three categories—owned houses, rented
houses and houses typically provided by employers. While home ownership is one
of the main aims of household savings, almost one-third of Indian urban
households live in rented accommodations. Not owning a house because of
financial reasons is just one of the reasons for living in rented accommodation.
People could also do so because of work, proximity to facilities such as education,
hospitals, etc. However, across the five main consumer segments, a larger share
of households live in their own homes in the more affluent segments, while almost
10% of the lowest income segment live in accommodation that is classified as
neither owned nor rented, pointing to the type of work and occupations of the
socio-economic category (SEC) E segment.

3. The richest SEC A segment, that has the highest share of households earning—
more than Rs. 10 lakh a year—finds it the easiest to purchase homes. At the other
end of the spectrum, the poorest SEC E households, with the highest share earning
less than Rs. 3 lakh a year, have less than 60% living in their own homes. While this
trend works across the country, northern states have a slightly higher share of
households living in their own homes.In SEC D and SEC E segments, more than
60% of the households live in their own homes in the northern states. This could
reflect in part the lower home values in towns of the north. It could also reflect the
trend of people migrating from these states to other regions, who may choose to live
in rented accommodation.

4. Looking at the share of households in owned accommodation, Delhi, Pune,
Coimbatore, Madurai, Ludhiana, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and
Kolkata rank at the bottom in the SEC E segment. Even in the SEC A segment, there
are many who live in rented accommodation because of work reasons—cities such
as Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata have less than 60% living in their
own homes in this segment. Once again, finer segmentation of urban consumers
gives more insights. The highest share of households living in their own homes—
more than 80%—are found in two segments, both whose chief wage earners are in
their mature years. In the affluent category, this is the richest segment in urban
India—households whose chief wage earners are well educated, businessmen,
executives or professionals, married and living in joint families with their grown up
married children.

5. Next to these households, from the less affluent category,
comes the fifth largest consumer segment in urban India
comprising households whose chief wage earners are
school educated businessmen or skilled workers, married
with grown-up, married children. It is by this stage in life
that the chief wage earners are settled in one location and
have saved enough to live in their own homes. The
segment with the highest share of households living in
quarters that are neither owned nor rented has chief wage
earners with the lowest education and skill sets, single and
living alone in the cities. This group is the tenth largest in
size in urban India and comprises mostly those with
regular salaried jobs, accommodation seems to be one of
the benefits given by employers. The segment which has
the highest share of households living in rented
accommodation—more than 75%—comprises those
whose chief wage earners are young, single, graduate
professionals or skilled workers. Clearly, the single status
is the dominant characteristic influencing the decision to
live in rented houses, even as they put money aside for
owning a home once the chief wage earner is more
settled. In fact, those households who are living in joint
families are more likely to be living in owned homes, than
nuclear families.