Meet to discuss low-cost housing

In a city where over 1.9 million households live in slums, what should be an effective model for slum rehabilitation schemes? Should slums continue to be redeveloped under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority or be replaced by a Dharavi-like scheme?

Answers to questions like these and more will be unveiled at a two-day international conference, “Megamorphosis: Resurgence of Mumbai”, organised by Bombay First, a city-based thinktank. Supported by DNA, the conference is scheduled for November 10 and 11 at  Trident Hotel, Nariman Point.

According to an estimate, in 2008 about 2.3 million households in Greater Mumbai and close to a million households in the rest of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) could not afford a basic housing unit. Real estate experts and housing activists say that the challenge to provide affordable housing is daunting but not impossible, if the government frames and implements the right housing policy. In a new report prepared by Bombay First and supported by McKinsey, housing activist Shirish Patel has suggested a combination of initiatives, which can deliver sustainable housing in MMR.

According to VK Phatak, who assisted Patel in the report, additional development rights, capital subsidies in lieu of infrastructure development charges and income tax rebates could be provided to ensure economic viability of projects.

“Encouraging the low-cost rental housing market can offer effective solutions for migrant workers, residents of congested chawls and the 26 per cent of slum residents living in rented premises,’’ he added.

According to the study, about 60 per cent households in the Greater Mumbai region and about 20 per cent in the rest of MMR reside in slums. “ The existing shortage will be compounded by continued demand driven by an increasing population and long-term appreciation of property prices,’’ it says. Mumbai can learn from other countries, which have used a combination of demand and supply side subsidies to bridge the gap.

Shanghai’s authorities, for instance, offer a minimum monthly rent subsidy of US $80 to households having an annual income of less than US $3,200 in the central district of the city. Similarly, residents of social rental housing complexes in the UK are supported by the Housing Benefit Scheme, which provides income-linked subsidies to residents to facilitate rent payments.

These initiatives can be complemented by several measures by the central government, particularly in improving access to housing finance. “Providing a subsidy to offset the high operating costs of lending to lower income groups can help housing finance institutions address this segment either directly or through intermediaries such as micro finance institutions (MFIs) etc,” points out Neera Adarkar, housing activist, in the report.