No Poverty: Affordable And Resilient Houses

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Provide Housing For All By 2022

The Challenge

As India grows and expands, its citizens seek new economic opportunities in its cities. It is estimated that India will add another 300 million urban residents by 2050.  But at only 1.1 percent of the GDP, municipal expenditures in India compares unfavourably with all BRICS countries except China. This reflects in the living conditions for poorer residents of Indian urban agglomerations, where approximately 17 percent of urban households lack basic provisions and services.

The Opportunity

Housing is documented to enhance capital formation, income, employment generation and savings. The Prime Minister’s Housing for All programme, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), aims to ensure an affordable roof over each household by 2022. The urban component of PMAY will encourage adoption of innovative and green technologies and building materials for faster and better quality construction of houses. Similarly, the aim for the rural component is to incorporate the use of building materials and technologies that can increase strength and durability, reduce costs, and bring down construction time. The programme aims to build 50 million homes to address the urban and rural housing shortage.

India’s housing industry is one of its fastest growing sectors. Construction, of which housing is a major component, accounts for 8.2 percent of the GDP. The government has allocated US $7.5 billion to develop 100 ‘Smart Cities’ by 2020, and special subsidies and concessions are available for alternate building technologies and materials.

Potential Areas of Focus

With the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the world’s largest housing programme for the poor, there is a significant opportunity for the private sector to improve construction quality, provide functional houses for poor households and innovate in building technologies and materials. New prefabricated housing models that are climate resistant and use renewable energy and sustainable materials will be required. Adopting cost-effective and environment-friendly building technologies for rural homes through PMAY can enhance the pace of construction by 20 percent, result in water savings of 1.6 billion litre annually, and reduce CO2 emissions by 27 million tons by 2022. The promotion of improved construction practices in rural housing will help strengthen rural economies by skilling more than 400,000 rural masons, and establishing more than 20,000 small enterprises around the production and distribution of materials and components.

UNIBF Activities

  • The group agreed to focus on rural and peri-urban, with the goal of creating a prototype which is smart and can then be replicated and scaled up for implementation.
  • Sub-groups were created with defined priorities. These sub-groups mapped requirements, identified gaps and worked to establish partnerships with technical agencies and associations. The sub-groups responsibilities were split as follows: demand aggregator; design and materials; financing; and construction.
  • The priorities of each sub-group are as follows: identifying issues and challenges; mapping current government initiatives; developing possible solutions; identifying the enablers required in terms of policy and technical support; and the final outcome.
  • The group is working on a document clearly mapping each sub-topic. This document will:
    • Make detailed policy recommendations on land use (including on availability and cost) as well as on materials and construction practices for pre-fabricated housing (with a detailed analysis of taxation structures and convergence of schemes).
    • Make recommendations for business solutions that do not require any regulatory changes. A proposal is being developed on a public-private partnership that can engage business in a ru-urban location.
  • Preparation of a concept/outline for a proposed public-private partnership for demonstration and evidence-creation in a peri-urban development by UN Habitiat. The proposal builds on the recommendations of the group and aims to leverage opportunities that are immediately available to the private sector. The proposal offers piloting models for a successful public-private partnership in the provision of affordable housing in peri-urban areas, and urban redevelopment through the Smart Cities Mission and Housing for All.
  • Group members will engage in a stakeholder dialogue meeting on sustainable social housing in India, as well as a roundtable on the potential of PPPs in the peri-urban segment.

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