Unveiling buyers’ preferences for privately developed affordable housing: a study in Kolkata, India Sujoy Biswas and Arjun Mukerji Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, India Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the buyers’ preferences influencing the purchase of privately developed affordable housing in Kolkata and to determine whether unsold houses result from misalignment with these preferences. Design/methodology/approach – The literature review and user-opinion survey identified 119 independent variables that indicate buyers’ preferences. A questionnaire survey of 383 households in affordable housing units from 32 housing complexes in Kolkata recorded buyers’ preferences and satisfaction against the independent variables grouped under five levels of characteristics. The product weights of variables derived from the rank sum method and percentage satisfaction give the Utility Score. Multivariate regression and univariate linear regressions were conducted to determine the significance of each Level of characteristics and each variable, identifying the significant variables that would affect the sale of affordable houses. Findings – The multivariate regression analysis has indicated that 68.56% of the variation in the percentage of unsold houses was explained by the five utility scores, which affirms that misalignment with buyers’ preferences significantly affects the sale of privately developed affordable houses. Furthermore, building and neighbourhood- level utility show the highest significance as predictors, while city-level and miscellaneous utility have moderate significance, but housing complex-level utility lacks statistical significance. Originality/value – This study addresses a research gap in privately developed affordable housing in Kolkata, enhancing understanding of buyer preferences in this segment. Keywords Buyers’ preferences for housing, Housing utility, Kolkata housing market analysis, Percentage of scale maximum (%SM), Privately developed affordable housing, Rank-sum method Paper type Research paper 1. Introduction Providing “housing for all” has immense challenges in a populous South Asian countries like India, with an estimated housing shortage of 29 million in 2018, 54% higher than in 2012 (Roy and Meera, 2020). The affordable housing segment aims to provide suitable and secure homes without imposing exorbitant costs on individuals or families. The houses are priced up to rupees 50 lakhs and have 60 square metres of carpet area (categorised as affordable units as per the government) (Govt of India, 2020; RBI, 2020). The West Bengal Housing Board (WBHB) implemented various approaches to address housing affordability across different income brackets in urban and rural areas. Through the construction of housing complexes catering to economically weaker sections (EWS), low-income groups (LIG) and middle-income groups, WBHB ensures that housing units are priced below market rates, enhancing accessibility for those who would otherwise struggle to afford them. Unveiling buyers’ preferences Received16 January 2024 Revised 16 March 2024 Accepted 24 March 2024 International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis © Emerald Publishing Limited 1753-8270 DOI 10.1108/IJHMA-01-2024-0007 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1753-8270.htm