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NEWS ALERTS | Housing For Poor Can Spur Economic Growth
Housing For Poor Can Spur Economic Growth

Housing For Poor Can Spur Economic Growth

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published Published on Jan 15, 2014   modified Modified on May 23, 2016

A new report on India's housing sector confirms with facts and figures what has been suspected all along: that despite growing demand for affordable housing, supply side responses have been weak and sluggish. This means even though the housing sector can directly impact employment and income generation, and has multiple forward and backward linkages with various industries, it needs innovative ideas, pro-poor thinking and policy stimulus. (See link below for full report).
 

The Report on Trend and Progress of Housing in India 2013, brought out by the National Housing Bank, provides in detail the housing situation in India and the challenges facing it. It says that although outstanding housing loans as a percentage of GDP in India have stayed at nearly 9 percent, which is comparatively lower than the corresponding figures in advanced nations, there is enormous scope for improvement.

The report, therefore, recommends innovative and flexible financing mechanisms and technologies along with appropriate policy interventions at the Central and State levels so as to match supply with growing demand for housing. The report reveals that the lack of institutional and formal credit to the low income and informal households has contributed to housing shortage in the country.

The supply side impediments, as identified by the report, to build low cost and affordable housing for the masses include high prices of land (owing to shortage and massive urbanization), archaic building bye-laws, delay in project approval and unfavourable credit provisions for construction agencies. There has been proliferation and growth of slums and squatters because of unaffordable housing and limited availability of land. Many states have unrealistic rent control laws and rules. The demand side constraints in terms of credit supply to individuals at the retail level have been well tackled by the financial sector institutions.

The report hopes that an enabling regulatory framework for the microfinance institutions (MFIs) can cater to the housing need of people in the informal sector. Creation of a mortgage guarantee and securitization market (long term debt market) is expected to serve the retail home loan sector. For affordable housing, a coordinated approach between the government, regulators and the lending institutions along with the real sector actors viz. the construction agencies in the private and public sector, is required.

The report from National Housing Bank says that as per the Technical Group on Housing Shortage, dearth of housing in urban India stands at 18.78 million in 2012 with 95 percent shortage in economically weaker section (EWS)/ low income group (LWG) segments. The problem will accentuate once 40 percent of India starts residing in urban centres by 2030 (as predicted), thanks to rapid urbanization. The rural housing shortage is estimated at 43.9 million in 2012 with 90 percent of the shortage in lower income and marginalized segments.

According to the report by National Housing Bank, the numerous housing related schemes implemented at the Centre and the state levels have failed to address the housing shortage problem, which is humongous in magnitude. The report also discusses at length some of the schemes/ programmes started by the Government to provide housing facilities and adequate infrastructure, namely: National Urban Housing and Urban Habitat Policy (2007), Bharat Nirman programme (launched in 2005 under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission-JNNURM), Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), Rajiv Loan Scheme, Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor (ISHUP) and Urban Housing Fund for Rs. 2000 crore (set up in 2013).

Based on the proceedings of the National Housing Bank-Asia Pacific Union for Housing Finance (APUHF) International Conference on Housing, held in 2013, the report states that out of the 18.78 million housing units needed in urban India, nearly 15 million units are already in existence but they are in conditions unsuitable for living. It is worth mentioning here that a total of 33,510 slums were estimated to be present in the urban areas of India by the recently released Key Indicators of Urban Slums in India (July 2012 to December 2012), National Sample Survey 69th Round. An estimated 8.8 million households lived in urban slums. In an estimated 32 percent of all slums, the approach road to the slum usually remained waterlogged due to rainfall. At the all-India level, 31 percent of slums had no latrine facility. About 31 percent of all slums in India had no drainage facility.

At the national level, 24 percent of slums benefited from welfare schemes such as Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), or any other scheme run by the Central Government or State Government or any local body.

Earlier the Census 2011 found that 37.1 percent of Indian households stay in one dwelling room houses while 2.8 percent of households reside in six rooms and above. Nearly 15.1 percent households in India, predominantly use grass, thatch, bamboo, wood, mud etc. for making roof of their houses. There are 9 percent households where the predominant material used for construction of wall is grass, thatch, bamboo etc. There are 17.6 percent households where availability of drinking water is far away. A miniscule 0.5 percent of Indian households still live without lighting.

References:

Report on Trend and Progress of Housing in India 2013 by National Housing Bank
http://www.nhb.org.in/Publications/Progress-report-2013-EN
GLISH.pdf

Report on Trend and Progress of Housing in India (previous years),
http://www.nhb.org.in/Publications/trends.php

Houselisting and Housing Census Data Highlights-2011,
http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/hlo/hlo_highlights.html

Key Indicators of Urban Slums in India (July 2012 to December 2012), National Sample Survey 69th Round,
http://www.im4change.org/latest-news-updates/key-indicator
s-of-urban-slums-in-india-23741.html

http://www.im4change.orghttps://im4change.in/siteadmin/tin
ymce//uploaded/NSS%2069th%20Round%20Slum%20Survey.pdf

Housing Shortages in Rural India-Shamsher Singh, Madhura Swaminathan, and VK Ramachandran, Review of Agrarian Studies, Volume 3, Number 2 (July-December, 2013),

http://www.ras.org.in/housing_shortages_in_rural_india

Image Courtesy: Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation,
http://mhupa.gov.in/ray/01-MoHUPA-Brochure-%20English..pdf



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