Home Sweet Home: The Eternal Quest for Expat Housing in Bangalore

chillibreeze writer — KC Komal

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Summer is turn over time in the expat world. As the school year comes to an end, two year assignments and housing leases are also reaching expiration dates. Depending on the point of view, there are hoped for extensions or departures. It seems like the hot question on everyone’s mind is “Are you staying longer?” Everyone goes through their mental rolodex of friends and the biggest negative of expat life, the departure of friends, looms on the horizon. It’s hardest on the kids who make friends only to lose them as families relocate.

And as the expats move on, there is an odd merry go round of houses, domestic staff and drivers. Good ones are booked even before their families move out, and many expats want to make sure that loyal and sincere staff are well placed and have assured employment before they leave. Also up for grabs are the houses. With families leaving and prospective tenants coming in, houses are being evaluated and re-evaluated. Closer to school, closer to work, with a better pool, with more friends, now is the time to find, tweak or change.

School and the commute to work are definitely top considerations for most expat families. Schools seem to be clustered in two parts of Bangalore. Between Whitefield and Sarjapur Road are a whole slew of schools that are international either in curriculum or methodology. The International School, Bangalore, Indus International, Inventure Academy, Greenwood high are just a few of the schools in this area that have a lot of expat kids. At the northern end of town is another cluster of international schools like the Canadian International School, Trio World School and Aditi Mallya. As for preschools, they are scattered across the city, so parents with toddlers are more likely to live in more central Bangalore.

In East Bangalore, Whitefield is definitely the preferred area for expats. There is of course, the bastion of expat housing, Palm Meadows, that set the standard every one else tries to emulate. A gated community of villas and the inevitable Palm trees, Palm Meadows attracts expats not only because of its location, but also because of its amazing club house and pool. Kids biking around, neighborhood block parties and great options in terms of classes for yoga, tennis, aerobics even Bollywood dancing, make Palm Meadows a very fun place for expats. The catch is the price, with villas renting for several lakhs a month, and a hefty fee for the clubhouse on top.

Finally in the last couple of years there are alternatives, and the upcoming Prestige Ozone is a top contender. Although not fully occupied yet, it seems to be attracting a lot of families with kids who want the space to run around and play. There are other developments nearby, like the new Total Environments, Chaintanya Armadale, Sobha Lotus and others, and any realtor knows to take visiting expats on a tour of all these gated communities.

Sarjapur Road is another area with a fast growing expat population. Those who consider Whitefield a little too far from town for a spontaneous night out are finding that Sarjapur Road offers easy access to the stores and restaurants of Koramangala. While there are a few villa communities here, like Rainbow Drive and Lakeshore homes, this area has more options in apartments. Apartments of more than 3000 square feet rent for half the price of a smaller home in Palm Meadows, and with the dollar falling, many companies are encouraging their expats to consider this area.

Koramangala continues to be popular because of its shopping and dining options. Of the complexes there, Acropolis which rubs shoulder to the Forum Mall and St. John’s Wood are the most popular. Be warned though, your tolerance for traffic and noise needs to be high to live here. But for city slickers the location couldn’t be better.

In north Bangalore the Sobha Malachite and surroundings offer town houses and apartments and all the conveniences of a gated community in a part of town where there are not as many options as in Whitefield.

So where else do expats live? Well, there are always those who prefer the heart of town. Apartments and houses in the city center offer all the big city buzz, but rarely have the club houses and pools of the suburbs.

Whitefield:

• Pros: IT hub, ITPL and many software companies are headquartered here. Not too far from the International schools in East Bangalore.
• Cons: Distance to city, although malls and stores are coming up shrinking the long trek for groceries
• Popular housing options: Palm Meadows, Prestige Ozone, Chaitanya Armadale, Total Environments, Paradise Nest and many others coming up every day. Approximate rents are above Rs. one lakh for a three bedroom house of about 3000 square feet Larger villas can run to 4 lakhs a month. The club membership is sometimes as muchas Rs. 30,000 a year for residents.
• Shopping: Cosmos Mall, Big Bazaar, Namdhari’s (inside Palm Meadows) M.K. Retail Supermarket (although none as large as their flag ship stores in Indira Nagar and Koramangala)
  

Sarjapur Road:

• Pros: Not as far out at Whitefield, not so inner city as mid-town. Convenient for school and shopping.
• Cons: Mostly apartments, and none as upscale or well supported as the Whitefield villa communities.
• Popular Housing options: Springfields apartments, Rainbow Drive villas, Sobha Apartments such as Jasmine, Quartz, Aquamarine, Acme Harmony apartments, Lakeshore Homes at various budgets. Rents are about Rs. 40,000 for a 4 bedroom 3000 square feet apartment.
• Shopping: Nilgiris, Spencers, Namdhari’s, M.K. Retail, 24 letter mantra and many others for groceries. Staples for office supplies and most chain stores have a branch within a few kilometers. Koramangala within 5 kilometers.

Yelahanka:

• Pros: One of the few non-Whitefield areas convenient for expats, will be closer to the new International airport when that finally gets up and running. Close to Canadian and Trio and Aditi schools.
• Cons: Distance to both city and Whitefield.
• Popular housing options: Sobha Malachite Row Houses, and supporting buildings, Prestige Monte Carlo apartments. Rents are about Rs.70,000 for a 2500 square foot row house.
• Shopping: No big malls yet, but most of the chain groceries like Big Bazaar, Spencers have branches.

City Center:

• Pros: All the big city features, restaurants, galleries, malls and boutiques.
• Cons: Traffic, lack of green spaces in housing, no gated villa communities, apartments and villas are not spanking new, although the upscale ones are well maintained. International schools are all a fair distance away.
• Popular Housing options: Embassy apartments at various locations, smaller apartments with great location, independent houses for every taste and budget. Rents are about Rs.70,000 for a three bedroom, 2800 square feet apartment.
• Shopping: Malls and boutiques galore, but some of the newer expat oriented stores have opened in the suburbs such as Spar and Total.

South Bangalore, especially J.P Nagar and Jaya Nagar are also starting to attract expat families, so stay tuned for updates on schools and housing in those areas later.

 

 

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—About our writer: KC refuses to limit herself to one label. Among the many hats she wears are: Full time mom, part time writer, teacher, chef, art collector, gardener, quilter and extremely good vacationer. She has lived in Northern California for close to 20 years and has spent most of those years stopping frequently to smell the roses and plant some lavender. After two decades in Silicon Valley her husband will be working from Bangalore. KC has two children, a 12 year old daughter and an 8 year old son.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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