More Affordable Housing in The Country and MMR
According to latest data from Monitor Inclusive Markets (MIM), there were a total of 80,000 affordable housing units in the range of Rs. 3-10 lakhs built in the last five years across the country. Mumbai too saw a fair share of these affordable houses in various locations across the city. Most of these affordable houses are low income housing (LIH) units.
Most supply in the western regions
The second 30 months of this five year period saw twice as many units being launched compared to the first half. Among the 22 cities taken into consideration, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Indore saw the highest volumes of supply. North Indian cities such as Delhi, NCR saw limited supply of LIH units. The Dharuhera/Rewari industrial belt in Delhi will see some LIH projects in the future within the range of Rs. 10 lakhs as some developers have expressed interest in building these units.
In the eastern region, LIH units have emerged in Bhubaneshwar and Kolkata. There is a potential for more growth in the supply of LIH units in Bhubaneshwar as the state government is putting concerted effort to promote affordable housing.
The southern region has seen the least progress in terms of low income housing. This is majorly due to prevailing cultural resistance to multi-storey apartment format and longer approval timelines. These reasons have deterred some developers from entering the space.
MMRDA puts 2,500 affordable flats on sale
Complimenting the increase of affordable housing supply in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the development body MMRDA is set to put about 2,500 flats on sale in Thane and Vasai-Virar.
The Maharashtra government has directed the MMRDA to put 50% of the flats built under its rental housing scheme on sale. The size of these flats is 160 sq.ft. MMRDA has about 5,000 such flats. The scheme was initially meant to rent out these flats to people who were either living in slums or unable to buy houses. With the government’s directive to put 50% of the flats on sale, about 2,500 such flats (size of 160 sq.ft) will be put on sale at rates decided by the government’s inspector general of property registration. The scheme is intended to benefit the economically weaker section (EWS) and lower income group (LIG).
A state government notification states that MMRDA can designate up to 50% of flats built under different housing schemes in MMR, under the rental housing scheme to be sold as a part of affordable housing. The 2,500 flats to be sold in Thane have already been handed over to the Thane Municipal Corporation.
MMRDA expects a stock of 5,000 more such flats to be available for purchasing by the end of the current fiscal year. Next fiscal-year onwards, the size of the flats in upcoming schemes are expected to become twice the existing size (320 sq.ft). The development board also has plans to create 5 lakh such flats in MMR in the next three years.
