News: Branded Homes Must Deliver Experience, Says NATCON Panel-04-10-2026

Branded residences are becoming a distinct segment of India’s luxury housing market, with developers and hospitality companies going beyond the premium apartment to combine design, hospitality, curated services and lifestyle experiences.

The subject came up at CREDAI NATCON 2026 in Kolkata on Sunday in a session titled "The Growing Dominance of Branded Residences in India’s Real Estate Space", moderated by Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, India, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE. The panel comprised Yukti Nagpal, Director, Gulshan Group; Jacob Purackal, senior Director, Development, Hilton Hotels; and Adhiraj Guha, senior Mixed Use Development Specialist, Marriott Hotels. Amit Sinha, CEO Holidays and Lifespaces Sector, Mahindra Group, also shared his views.

An ANAROCK Research & Advisory report released at NATCON listed lifestyle-led branded residences among emerging residential sub-segments, alongside senior and student housing. Residential sales value reached around Rs 6.10 lakh crore in FY26.

Industry players said a hotel or lifestyle brand alone does not explain the appeal; the product must deliver an experience that justifies the premium.

Nagpal said branded residences bring hospitality into real estate and the product must be designed around the experience, such as service that lets a resident order something at an unusual hour as in a hotel. Sales teams must understand the product well enough to explain this, she said.

She said the idea of luxury is changing. Buyers once focused on marble, stone and fittings; now they ask what services they will get after moving in, how these are delivered and what they cost. Curated menus, customised services, long-term repair provisions and sinking funds are part of the conversation as buyers grow conscious of recurring costs. Luxury is increasingly tied to scarcity and exclusivity, she said, with buyers wanting differentiated experiences more than larger homes.

Dubai remains one of the largest branded-residence markets globally and China is well ahead of India, but developers see opportunity in Gurugram, Delhi-NCR and Tier-2 cities, where rising incomes and aspirational buyers are creating demand. Local developers can also build their own brands, since buyers in several markets value their familiarity, track record and local understanding.

Nagpal said costly construction does not automatically mean luxury. Gulshan Group, which recently launched Taj Sky Scape, builds the lifestyle proposition in from the design stage and prefers interacting with like-minded people over large launch parties, she said.

One speaker cautioned that the brand should not become a substitute for a good residential product. A brand can create a pull, he said, but the real question is what is being created for people to live in. He also pointed to membership models, second-home concepts and experience-led living that combine ownership with access to curated experiences.

Purackal said the term can be read broadly because every developer is itself a brand. A hotel company’s role, he said, is to bring defined hospitality standards, trained staff and operating processes into the home, enforcing brand standards as in hotels. He called branded residences "a long-term proposition" and said the hotel can in some cases anchor the development. The segment is still young in India, and its ability to hold service standards over a project’s full life cycle will be watched.

Guha said the hospitality brand must stay involved with the developer throughout development, accounting for market-specific needs while keeping service consistent. From kitchens and layouts to flexibility and service delivery, such homes must balance global standards with local preferences.

Industry players said buyers now ask not only what they are buying but how they will live afterwards. For Gurugram and other emerging luxury markets, the segment’s success will depend on whether the promised experience is consistently delivered and whether buyers feel it justifies the premium and the continuing cost of ownership.