The state government released its draft housing policy, aimed at making housing affordable for the masses, on Wednesday.
MUMBAI: The state government released its draft housing policy, aimed at making housing affordable for the masses, on Wednesday.
The draft plan, based on the National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, envisages a regulatory commission to monitor considerations such as pricing, conveyance (factored in for the first time), and the sale of flats on the basis of carpet area. At the same time, it affords greater support for rental housing.
The policy proposes to encourage township development by increasing floor space index from 0.5 to 1. More importantly, it proposes to reserve 5 to 10 per cent of the area in any building development for the lower- and middle-income groups.
Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that to encourage township development, the state proposes to increase FSI from 0.5 to 1 in areas beyond Mumbai’s municipal limits. The areas in question would be the districts beyond Dahisar in the western suburbs and beyond Mulund in the eastern suburbs.
“[The move] will reduce pressure of housing within the city limits,” Deshmukh said. But the government will not allow townships in no-development zones and coastal regulation zones.
The policy proposes to redevelop old buildings such as the BDD chawls in Worli and Naigaum with private participation and recommends that slum lands be auctioned for redevelopment. But the state has not ventured to mention the controversial issue of FSI incentive that it would offer to developers.
“This being a draft policy, we are keen to get suggestions from the public before we present the final policy in January,” said SS Kshatriya, principal secretary (housing). “Nevertheless, in line with an earlier Supreme Court judgment, the maximum FSI we may permit for redevelopment of slums and chawls could be 4.”
The policy promises to provide five lakh Low-Income and Middle-Income Group houses in urban areas in the next three years. It also advocates the rehabilitation of at least 25 per cent of eligible slum dwellers and tenants of dilapidated buildings.
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