Despite knowing the importance of affordable housing many developers in the country are still focusing on mid to high-end and luxury projects, according to a report by PHD chamber and property advisory Cushman and Wakefield.
“There is a huge unmet demand (affordable housing), which if tapped, will result in high velocity of sales but majority of reputed developers in India do not build affordable housing projects,” report said.
“India’s housing shortage is led by Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and lower Income Group lIG sections but the upcoming supply in urban centers is beyond the reach of the people, who belong to such sections,” it added.
According to the report there is a need of building integrated townships, providing impetus to redevelopment, increasing Floor Space Index (FSI) and building vertical cities.
“Unfortunately redevelopment is a much politicized subject in India; tenants often do not agree to move to temporary houses in far flung locations. However, urbanization mandates effective land-use and redevelopment is an intrinsic part of that process,” it said.
In 2012, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MHUPA) stated that there is an under-supply of 18.78 million housing units in urban India, of which, nearly 95 per cent affects the EWS and low Income Group lIG of the urban population.
According to the research, demand for urban housing will scale up by nearly 12 million units by 2017 based on just the current growth of population. Around 23 per cent of this total demand will be generated in the top eight cities of India. By 2021, the urban population is expected to increase to nearly 500 million, totaling to about 35 per cent of the total population of India. Hence, the total housing demand in the country by 2017 could be as high as 88.78 million units.