‘Inclusive’ co-living space for LGBTQs in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: A safe, judgment-free and friendly living space for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community isn’t easily available. People associated with the community not only face the stigma of society but are often mocked for their life choices and struggle to find a decent accommodation in metro cities even today. Many property […]

Hyderabad: A safe, judgment-free and friendly living space for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community isn’t easily available. People associated with the community not only face the stigma of society but are often mocked for their life choices and struggle to find a decent accommodation in metro cities even today. Many property owners and gated communities are reluctant to either rent or sell their property to the LGBTQ community.

That is where Hyderabad-based D’Kommunitee’s Habitat Inc comes to play. Touted to be the country’s first inclusive living space, Habitat Inc provides a safe and inclusive co-living space to the LGBTQ community. Founded by Ankith Narayanan, Murari Kumar Raja and Pratap James, Habitat Inc is a first-of-its-kind co-living space. While Narayanan and Raja are architects, James is a tech expert and is part of the community.

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“I have been an architect and entrepreneur for the last four years and have been an ally of the LGBTQ community. While we were looking at starting a co-living space platform we started thinking about how we can offer something different. After researching for about two years, we realised that the LGBTQ community faces hordes of issues when it comes to finding decent accommodation. So, at the beginning of 2021 we decided to start this inclusive co-living space for the community, ” Narayanan told ‘Telangana Today‘. The company identifies properties that are LGBTQ community-friendly and customises the apartment accordingly. It offers single, double-sharing and in some cases even triple-sharing co-living spaces at reasonable rates. These properties will have an attached bathroom and either a common kitchen space or an attached kitchen along with providing subscription-based meals.

These spaces, according to Narayanan, can also be used to host events and any other activity that the community prefers. “When people from the community go out to find accommodation they are judged and discriminated and even if they find a decent place to stay they have to shell out high rents and face certain stigma. The co-living space that we offer is a safe space for the community and brings a kind of togetherness among the people,” he informs.

Habitat Inc looks out for 30-40 room properties and leases out the whole building. They currently have two properties in Hyderabad – one in Ayyappa Society and another in Financial District. They are looking to unveil these two properties by January or February of 2022.

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