AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR URBAN POOR

Abstract

The Scheme of Affordable Housing in Partnership aims at operationalising the strategy envisaged in the National Urban Housing & Habitat Policy (NUHHP) 2007, of promoting various types of public-private partnerships - of the government sector with the private sector, the cooperative sector, the financial services sector, the state prostates, urban local bodies, etc. - for realizing the goal of affordable housing for all. It intends to provide a major stimulus to economic activities through affordable housing for the creation of employment, especially for the construction workers and other urban poor who are likely to be amongst the most vulnerable groups in recession. It also targets the creation of demand for a large variety of industrial goods through the multiplier effect of housing on other economic activities. This Scheme is a part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and takes into account the experience of implementing Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) and Integrated Housing & Slum Development Program (IHSDP) for three years, and the assessment that shortfall in response from BSUP towns is a factor of the lack of urban land availability for expansion of cities, and after consultation with States/UTs who have agreed that the responsibility of making urban land available at affordable rates must rest with them in order to reduce the acute shortages of housing in urban areas. The scheme is also an acknowledgement of the strain of BSUP and IHSDP on state budgetary resources, and the need to draw in institutional finance for construction of affordable housing on a mass scale. The scheme is primarily applicable to the 65 cities covered under the BSUP program. Other cities of population above 5 lakhs could be considered during implementation with approval of the National Steering Group for JNNURM, if adequate number of projects is not forthcoming from the 65 cities. However, project proposals from non-BSUP towns could be considered for sanction based on a review of the implementation of the Scheme by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation after two years. The scheme seeks to encourage State Governments to make provision for land to meet the acute shortage of affordable housing and to work in the partnership model envisaged in the NUHHP 2007. These Guidelines will come into effect from 1st April, 2009 and the scheme will be a part of JNNURM.