Affordable Housing: The Increasing Problem of Housing in India

Abstract

The rapid growth of the urban population resulting in housing shortages and poor urban living conditions could be a prime challenge for the govt. of India. Recently launched affordable housing scheme, PMAY Urban -Housing for All.

This paper reviews various literature and understanding PMAY, a reasonable scheme for all specifically for EWS beneficiaries in India further as Ahmedabad, and Gujrat.

Introduction

House, apart from food and fabric, is one of the terms of the three essential human requirements. Even after 70 years of independence, India continues to struggle with the increasing problem of housing, especially among the urban poor. Acute housing shortages and deteriorating urban living standards have arisen from the exponential growth of urban areas. The urbanisation of rural communities in towns in search of employment and jobs is creating urban housing problems. The 20th century saw a rapid growth in the urban population.

The growth of the urban population is contributing to overcrowded urban slums. The slums are home to a rising number of vulnerable urban residents. Housing affordability, especially in urban areas, is currently a major concern in India. There are many interventions internationally aimed at creating sustainable housing options for all. The government of India has also announced a 'Home for All' mission by 2022. The central government has undertaken a systematic mission to realise this aim.

Affordable housing

Over the past 15 years, the definition of housing affordability has been widely used but describing it correctly remains difficult. The affordability of housing could simply be described as cost-effective accommodation, ensuring that a household can 'pay without financial difficulties'. Housing affordability is described in several forms globally. MacLennan and Williams gave one of the key helpful concepts of housing affordability as being 'concerned with securing some given standard of housing (or different standard) at a price or rent that does not impose an unreasonable burden on household income within the eye of some third party (usually the government).'

Affordable housing is commonly regarded to be houses that fulfil the criteria of households whose wages are not adequate to enable them within the sector to obtain suitable housing. In the sense of the basic needs of individuals, the family and even the environment, adequate housing has been widely acknowledged. U, in u. s. A commonly agreed criterion for affordable accommodation is for Canada and that the price of housing should not be quite 30 per cent of the total income of a family. Housing expenses include owners' taxes and insurance, and service expenses. Housing affordability, which is taken as a measure of housing spending on household income, is one of the most widely recognised concepts of affordability. This may also be acknowledged by the Indian Government, which notes that' Affordable housing applies to any housing that satisfies any form of criteria of affordability, which could well be family income standard, dwelling unit size or affordability in terms of EMI size or house price to annual income ratio'.

Defining slums

Slums are described by the United Nations as a house, a group of buildings or an environment marked by overcrowding, degradation, unsanitary conditions or either of them jeopardising the health, safety or morality of its occupants or the society. In the city, there are primarily two types of low-income residential areas, shawls that were originally residential units constructed in mill premises for workers and slums that reflect illegal occupation by refugees and other economically poorer parts of marginal areas of the city. The above lack sufficient equipment and basic facilities and are clustered along the riverfront, low-lying neighbourhoods, empty private/government property, etc. In those parts of the city that have a high concentration of migrant communities and smaller family levels per household, slums tend to have mushroomed. Immigration from rural areas and smaller towns sends people to bigger cities in search of better opportunities for economic growth. Recurrent droughts and crop failures, and land fragmentation (and therefore economically non-viable land holdings) have also helped to set the pattern for livelihood migration from rural to urban areas.

In developing cities, urbanisation and relocation have contributed to a growth in the population. This puts a strain on the demand for housing in the area, especially in the lower end. Across the country, affordable housing is a major concern and Ahmedabad is no different. Housing availability seems to be massively undersupplied, especially in the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Lower Income Category (LIG) parts. The number of people living in rented housing makes things evident. As per the 2011 Census, the total number of rental units under the EWS and LIG categories (urban population) was around 1,84,600. This can be interpreted as the unmet need for housing in these segments in 2011. It can thus be projected that this unmet requirement will have risen to approximately 2,80,119 units in 2014. While the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) are developing schemes to meet this ever-increasing demand in these segments, there is still limited participation by private players. Therefore, there is still a wide potential for growth in this field (Kurup E Jayashree, et.al. nd).

Demand for affordable housing in India

As part of the national agenda in the Republic of India, affordable housing is increasingly taking centre stage globally. The demand for affordable housing in India is due to numerous reasons, such as progressive urbanization, which goes hand in hand with the rising urban population, which grew from 109 million in 1971 to 377 million in 2011 and is expected to rise to 600 million by 2030. In addition to the burden on basic services such as water, electricity, and sanitation, the effect of the rising concentration of people in urban spaces is felt in land and housing shortages and congested transportation. During the 12th plan era, the Ministry of Housing estimated a housing deficit of 18.78 million homes, with 99 per cent in the economically poorer and lower revenue classes.

For the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), the Technical Committee on Urban Housing Shortage describes housing shortages as composed of the following components:

1. Household waste over the appropriate stock of housing (people living in informal properties)
2. Number of additional households due to congestion expected
3. Number of additional households due to obsolescence needed
4. Amount of households in Kutchcha that must be upgraded

The above classification is a need-based viewpoint on housing scarcity alone and lacks the housing requirements from the market. According to this definition, the total need-based housing shortage in the country is around 19 million units, as per the 2011 census. An emphasis on affordable housing would not only contribute to an improved standard of life but will also improve the country's GDP dramatically. Housing is the largest portion of both the financial and building sectors. Thus in the sense of designing human growth programmes and plans, housing receives significant interest.

Indian Government’s affordable housing Schemes

Affordable housing is a concept agreed upon by scientists to include strategies, recommendations and structures, especially in the formulation of housing policies and programmes. The Indian government has been attempting to provide affordable housing for years primarily through housing projects in the public sector, slum redevelopment and land provision with access to utilities. The government of India has launched numerous housing schemes since its Independence.

Sr. No. Housing Schemes Launched in Year:

1. Integrated Subsidised Housing Scheme for Industrial workers and Economically Weaker Sections 1952
2. Low Income Group Housing Scheme 1954
3. Subsidized Housing Scheme for Plantation Workers 1956
4. Middle Income Group Housing Scheme 1959
5. Rental Housing Scheme for State Government Employees 1959
6. Slum Clearance and Improvement Scheme 1956
7. Village Housing Projects Scheme 1959
8. Land Acquisition and Development Scheme 1959
9. Provision of House Sites of Houseless Workers in Rural Areas 1971
10. Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums 1972
11. Sites and Services Schemes 1980
12. Indira AwasYojana 1985
13. Night Shelter Scheme for Pavement Dwellers 1990
14. National Slum Development Programme 1996
15. 2 Million Housing Programme 1998
16. Valmiki Ambedkar Malin Basti Awas Yojana 2000
17. Pradan Mantra GramodayaYojana 2001
18. Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission 2005
19. PradhanMantriAdarsh Gram Yojana (2009-10) 2009
20. Rajiv AwasYojana 2011
21. PradhanMantriAwasYojana- Housing for All (Urban) 2015
22. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Housing for All (Urban)

In his speech to the Joint Session of Parliament on 9 June 2014, the Honorable President of India declared, Each family will have a pucca house with water link, toilet facilities, 24x7 electricity supply and connectivity by the time the state completes 75 years of its independence. To achieve this aim, the Government of India-Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojan has launched a comprehensive mission.

The mission aims to provide 20 million units of housing and carry on projects to rehabilitate slums. The slum is described as a compact area of at least 300 or around 60-70 poorly developed, congested households in an unhygienic climate, generally with insufficient amenities and lacking adequate sanitation and beverage facilities. An 'affordable housing scheme' would have a minimum of 35 per cent of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) households according to the mission guidelines. EWS households are those with an annual income of up to Rs.3,00,000 and a dwelling with a carpet area of up to 30 sq.m. The Low Income Category (LIG) is described as having an annual income of Rs. 300,001 to Rs. 600,000 and a carpet-area housing unit of up to 60sq.m.

The scheme offers a 6.5 per cent subsidy to EWS and LIG for housing loans for a term of up to fifteen years running at about Rs.100,000 to Rs.230,000 per unit. In the name of ladies, it mandates home or shared possession. It is expected to mobilise the Slum Free City Action Plan (SFCPoA) for the in-situ redevelopment of slums to form all statutory slum-free communities.

Under the framework of the scheme, it is specified that a husband, wife, unmarried sons and/or unmarried daughters would form a beneficiary unit. In order to apply for central assistance under the Mission, the recipient family may not own the pucca house in any part of India either on its behalf or on behalf of any member of its family. In each of the prevailing alternatives, the recipient family is liable for just one benefit, i.e. slum redevelopment with a private partner, credit-linked subsidies, direct subsidies to actual beneficiaries and subsidised housing in collaborations. As can be seen in the following graphic, PMAY consists of 4 pillars. The second aspect is demand-oriented and can be seen because of the core feature of the system, supplying accommodation by credit-linked subsidies.

Conclusion

Rapid urban population development, resulting in housing scarcity and bad urban living standards, is a primary challenge for India's government. It has been noted that a variety of housing projects have been initiated in India by various governments since independence. Nevertheless, there was a lack of cohesion and interconnectedness in these schemes, which draws attention to earlier studies on the evaluation of housing policies and programmes in India. PMAY-Housing for All (Urban) has recently unveiled an affordable housing scheme that brings attention to some of the researchers in a critical study of the initiative.