New scheme will provide homes at Thane, Karjat and Titwala to people earning Rs10,000-25,000 a month.
The state government and the developers seem to care little about providing cheap housing to people earning between Rs10,000 and Rs25,000 a month. So, the Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association (MSWA), a non-profit organisation, has come out with a scheme to provide housing for these people in places like Thane, Karjat and Titwala.
The new scheme has adopted the concept followed by the co-operative housing societies (CHS) in the 1960s. Distrust among society members and the rapidly changing realty market had killed the concept at that time, but Ramesh Prabhu, chairman of the MSWA, believes that it is going to work this time.
The CHS schemes of the sixties saw groups of people working in banks, insurance companies, etc., coming together to form various societies. The members of every society were required to contribute 20% of the costs required to purchase land and construct a building. The remaining 80% came from loans given to them by their employers.
“Our new scheme entails prospective buyers becoming members of the Affordable Housing Welfare Organisation of India, an NGO set up under the aegis of the MSWA. Since land prices are high, our project will focus on places like Thane, Karjat and Titwala, where land is still available at reasonable prices,” Prabhu said.
As per the new scheme, flats will be constructed and sold on carpet area. A 300-350 sq ft flat would cost up to Rs10 lakh. Flats admeasuring 350-450 sq ft would be priced at Rs15 lakh, while those with over 550 sq ft carpet area would cost roughly Rs25 lakh.
“To ensure that past instances of promoters siphoning off the money do not happen again, the members will pay only by cheques. Depending on the amount of loan sanctioned, members will deposit an initial amount of 20-30% in a specially-formed credit society of the MSWA. Purchase of land, infrastructure costs, and overheads will be displayed on websites, and copies of them will also be given to the members,” Prabhu said.
Analysts say the scheme seems workable, but considering the high land costs, it is difficult to say anything for sure until the plan is implemented.
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