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A 2 BHK home in a gated community in Vadodara

A gated community puts every home behind one guarded entrance, with shared roads, lighting and upkeep paid for together. Lake Tree Avenue is a gated campus of 48 two-storey 2 BHK townhouses on Waghodia Main Road, with 24-hour security, CCTV, parking at every door and a landscaped common plot, and no clubhouse, gym or pool.

"Gated" is on almost every brochure in Vadodara, and it can mean anything from a full-time guard and CCTV to a gate that stays open. This page sets out what the word should mean, so you can test any project against it, ours included.

Written by Kinjal Mehta, civil engineer (MSU Baroda) and partner, TAM Developers.

Published: · Last reviewed:

We build townhouses on this road. Lake Tree Avenue is our project, so read this guide knowing who wrote it.

What should "gated community" actually mean?

  • One boundary. The whole campus inside a continuous wall or fence, with no back way in.
  • A staffed gate. A security cabin at the entrance with a guard on duty day and night, not only in the daytime.
  • A record of who comes in. Visitors stopped and noted, and cameras at the gate whose recordings are kept.
  • Parking inside. Space for residents and separately for guests, so the internal roads stay clear.
  • Shared upkeep, run by the owners. A homeowners' society that pays for the guards, lights, garden and roads, with the accounts open to every member.

Anything beyond this, a clubhouse, gym or pool, is an amenity, not what makes a campus gated. Amenities add to the maintenance bill every month, whether you use them or not.

What does Lake Tree Avenue have?

This is the full list of shared facilities, as the developer issues it:

  • Entry gate with a security cabin and 24-hour security
  • CCTV at the entry gate and at points along the avenue
  • Private parking in front of every house, for a car, a two-wheeler or both
  • Separate visitor parking in the common area
  • Common plot with a landscaped garden
  • Underground cabling, so there are no overhead wires on the campus
  • Tremix concrete internal roads with paved sides
  • Trees along the roads and street lights
  • Rain water harvesting system

The campus is laid out in 5 rows of houses on internal roads, and you can see every plot on the site plan. At the front there are no walls between the houses; each house has its own compound wall at the back.

What does it not have?

A 48-house campus is too small to support a clubhouse, a gym, a swimming pool or a party hall without a heavy maintenance bill, so there are none. Power backup for the homes is not on the amenity list either. If any of these matters to your family, a large township or a tower is the better fit, and the house-or-flat comparison is worth reading.

What a small campus gives instead: you will know most of your neighbours by name, the shared costs are only for the things everybody uses, and the society has fewer decisions to argue over.

Who pays for the security and the upkeep?

The developer sets up a maintenance society, and every homeowner is a member. You pay maintenance once a year. It covers the security staff, housekeeping, the garden and landscaping, the street lights and other common electrical equipment, and other shared costs.

The annual amount is not fixed yet. We will not quote a number before it is; ask us where it stands. More detail is on the amenities page.

What should you check in any gated project?

  1. Visit after dark once. Is the guard at the gate, and are the street lights on?
  2. Ask how many guards there are per shift, who employs them, and who pays them before the society takes over.
  3. Ask where the CCTV cameras are and how long recordings are kept.
  4. Walk the boundary. Is it continuous, or is there a gap at the back?
  5. Ask for the expected annual maintenance in writing, and what it covers.
  6. Ask when and how the common areas and the society's accounts are handed over to the owners.
  7. Count the visitor parking spaces, and ask where delivery vans and autos stop.

Who is a gated townhouse right for?

Families with young children, who can play on the internal roads and the common plot in sight of home.

People who travel, who can lock the front door knowing there is a guard at the gate.

Parents of grown children, who want a house rather than a flat, but not the work of guarding one alone.

If you also want your own front door, your own terrace and nobody above you, see the homes and the 2 BHK house on Waghodia Main Road page.

Questions on this topic

Is Lake Tree Avenue a gated community?

Yes. All 48 houses are inside one gated boundary, with an entry gate, a security cabin, 24-hour security and CCTV at the gate and along the avenue.

Is there a clubhouse or a gym?

No. The campus has a landscaped common plot, visitor parking, tree-lined internal roads with street lights and rain water harvesting, but no clubhouse, gym or pool.

Is visitor parking separate?

Yes. Every house has its own parking space in front of it, and there is separate visitor parking in the common area.

How much is the maintenance?

It is paid once a year to the homeowners' maintenance society. The annual amount is not fixed yet; ask us where it stands.

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