250 years to meet the current housing stock requirement?
At the current rate of provision of affordable and rehabilitation housing, the two million homes requirement will take over 250 years for completion. The reducing or negligible uptake of market housing is clearly not able to subsidise the required stock of rehabilitation housing. Alternative models to free rehabilitation housing such as self-redevelopment models, inclusive housing, community land reserve or incremental housing need to be considered. We are studying and evaluating surplus lands which can be consolidated and opened up for this housing provision, such as MbPT lands, MIDC, SEZ and MHADA lands.
Greater Mumbai - 8% of land for an estimated 42% of population
Since the 1990s, several governmental schemes have been initiated and adopted to provide ‘Affordable Housing’ in Greater Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), but these have seen little success. Over the last thirty years, only 10% of the required Affordable Housing has been implemented. At this rate, it will take over 300 years to provide the requisite two million homes for MMR. Alarmingly, this implies that it is fine for the current population, living in sub-standard housing conditions, to continue doing so without any respite on the horizon. This demand for Inclusionary and Affordable housing will only continue to rise, and the gap between demand and supply will become larger, unless we take adequate steps immediately to alleviate the current pressures.
Alternative solutions to creating adequate affordable housing in MMR
A survey undertaken in the 24 Administrative Wards of Greater Mumbai revealed that the most important concern of Mumbaikars is “housing” followed by education, healthcare and sanitation. By successfully catering to this demand for affordable housing, it will act as a force multiplier for MMR’s economic development. Enabling provisions will have to be made, in addition to the current Development Control Regulations, additional rights will have to be created without impinging on current schemes or provision. Most of these provisions will offer additional development rights to existing stakeholders, users, landowners, promoters, builders, developers for including this inclusionary component.
