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We can start with housing, the sturdiest of footholds for economic mobility. A national affordable housing program would be an anti-poverty effort, human capital investment, community improvement plan, and public health initiative all rolled into one… Matthew Desmond
Fair and affordable housing is a basic right for all New Yorkers and all Americans… Nydia Velazquez
Three quotes, from three people, all of them from the USA, a country where every second person or two from the entire world wants to settle & if Mr Musk is a billionaire, then Desmond is an economist while Nydia is a social worker. Their words speak about their respective fired too, though the common thread is affordability, if Elon Musk emphasizes on making affordable possible by design & technology then Desmond draws our attention towards importance of applying affordable to homes in the benefit of national economic growth while Nydia tells us about need of affordable housing for everybody that too in city like New York, which is world's finance capitol! Interesting isn’t it, as here we think we Indians are only concerned about affordable homes but looking at the above three quotes I think affordable homes is a global problem (not just issue)! And that’s why when my Guru in writing Mr Mukund Sangoram, is Editor of Loksatta Pune, in our general conversation mentioned about why affordable housing is not successful or happening in Pune, Mumbai, I thought of taking this subject as first we have to define what is affordable housing & then only, we can try to achieve it, is my simple logic. Like they say in NCC where I learned rifle shooting, “Pahale target ko dekho, napo & aur fir nishana lagao” i.e., first you sight the target, take judgement & then aim for fire, same logic is applicable for affordable housing, only if we consider it as a target to shoot i.e., to achieve the outcome (last words are sarcasm)!
Well, the subject opened up from the news about MHADA houses in Mumbai also beyond reach of many middle-class families MHADA, i.e., Maharashtra Housing & Development Authority is State govt’s company or authority which supposedly looks after creating supply of affordable houses in the State, mainly in Mumbai. And trust me, till a few decades back it was doing great job & many middle as well lower middle class family’s dream of owning a home has been possible only because of MHADA especially in the golden triangle of Mumbai, Thane & Pune. But seems off late it too has failed on this front as no more HADA homes are in the budget of those for whom they are supposedly built! This makes the need for analysis of why we are unable to make affordable homes for the masses more strong because if Mai Baap govt itself is failing to do so, how the private builders (and why) will be making them! And another aspect is MHHADA along with the likes of CIDCO was unable (I won’t say failure) to make enough affordable homes, that’s why real estate flourished in many cities is also a fact to be considered.
So, we need affordable homes & yes, the home rates (read as flat rates per sft) has been reduced yet there seems to be a lot of difference between the demand of the homes in a particular rate range vs supply in that budget. If you don’t believe the first part, then take a comparison statement of flat per sft rates in a particular area in last five years & check by yourself, the rates even if are steady means actually it’s a decrease as considering the huge capital investment needed for real estate & the trend before last decade, rates not increasing is reduction actually! And about the second part of my statement, look around & ask ten people of age group twenty to thirty-five, who work as peon, driver, delivery boys, house maids, jr. accountants, site supervisors & such, even senior personnel in smaller firms & class four three of govt services that how many of them own a home in Pune & tell me the answer. Even if three out of ten say they own a home bought from their own income (not of their parents) I will change my views about affordable housing in the next sharing! Because just the way automobile market is driven by small cars like Maruti Dzire or Alto & I-10 of Hyundai & the buyers are middle class, same in real estate not all people want a home which is worth a crore & above, though all will love to have it but only a five percent of the society can afford it, here is where we need to define affordable housing in right way first as then only, we can make such homes!
We are a country of one fifty plus crore population & let’s see this analogy to understand why I am stressing to define affordable housing in the right way. You can get a cup of tea easily from Rs 5 / cup to Rs 500/ cup & you can get a meal from Rs 30 (puri/bhaji) to Rs 1000 per person as well you can get a two-wheeler from Rs 50,000 (which a person can buy at EMI of Rs 2000/ month) to Rs 10,00,000 & so is the scene in almost every necessary commodities including mobile phone & all of these are legal, mind it (This legal aspect will come in picture later)! Now look at the home prices, you can get a 2 bhk home in posh area at Rs 2 crore but if you want a home with same analogy of above rate scale, can you get a decent home in Rs 5 lakhs or Rs 10 lakhs, if not in some posh area but at a location where it will be called as home & liveable condition? Here the difference is a tea may be of Rs 5 per or Rs 500 per cup, it’s a tea & it does fulfil craving for tea drinking of the buyer of respective cup & same is with cell phone models as well two wheelers, so the home which is available in Rs 10lakhs must fulfil the basic needs of the home buyer, right? And what are these basic needs of a home buyer, they are very simple, they should be durable, with electricity, water, commutable from the work as well education centres, & some space within the room walls to accommodate the movements of the occupants, that is all & yes it must be legal! But tell me, how many such homes you see around, I know the answer, it's none & that’s why there are so many people who don't own a home!
This is because we haven’t understood the importance of affordable homes, so neither as Mr Musk says we are using technology to do so nor we are making any policy to build such homes & outcome is millions are living in rental or illegal homes & getting stressed because of such living! But at least these millions are fortunate as there are many more millions which are living in homes which are below par any living standards which are called as slums! If we want to make affordable homes in a country like ours then first form a cell or company with private partnership to research on this aspect which should have been done decades back actually. As in our country we always think research is a waste of money & time as everyone wants instant solutions as well profits & the real estate was & is the mother of this instant philosophy! We are still going by age-old concrete, plaster ways to build a home of which a basic cost can’t be reduced below further level, so how are we going to make cheaper homes is the first hurdle. We need to invent some technology & for that we need to spend money & time & use brains, who is going to do it, is the second hurdle!
Then comes the land aspect which is the key to affordable homes as we need land to build any home & nobody is ready to give his or her land without departing with huge profits as land is limited, so that’s the third hurdle! We need to make reservations for affordable homes & a policy to acquire these reservation lands. As well the way MIDC makes all infrastructure provision for their industrial plots, the State Govt (Not local body) should make basic infrastructure development for these plots such as water, public transport hubs, roads etc as then we can control the rates for ready homes here. And fourth is taxes govt wants as well as premiums the local bodies charge per sft of every built-up area, are they ready to reduce if not waive it to make a home affordable, is the fourth & final hurdle in making affordable homes! As there is no such category like affordable homes where right from the land, the material required for construction to electric supply everything will be given at half or say a fixed rate & the govt will buy that product at a fixed rate & then those homes will be sold to needy people at fixed rate which will be worked out by deciding their buying capacity, that is an affordable home, now tell me how many such projects you see around! As right from the land which must be equipped with necessary basic infrastructure, every such aspect must be considered to make a home affordable because you can’t build a home in some Timbuktu location just because land is cheap here & ask people to live here calling it an affordable home. Neither you can build a small shrunk home & make people to live in it like a rat lives in some hole, it has to be a home matching to yours as well mine, & yet in the budget of the needy one & for that either you have develop a technology which will build such homes or you all (every segment) accept some cut from your pocket (read a profit) & make that home affordable, are the only two ways!
As well we need to work on innovative policies such as renting the affordable home rather than making the needy home buyers buy it as for majority of the numbers even to buy a home of Rs 10 lakh also won’t be possible to gather, even via loan! We can think of using the rent as EMI for the basic price of such homes & after a certain period the rental family will become owner of such homes, is also one option to consider! One more aspect we forget while defining affordable is, routine operating costs such as electricity bills, monthly maintenance, services AMCs’ (Lift, Generator, Solar etc) & many such. As well as the family members commuting expenses to their daily chores, we are referring to the people who have a fixed (mostly) income & they have many outgoings! All the concerned service provider agencies must think while charging such homes for their services or the govt should make subsidy (the way farmers get for electric supply), also the loans should be made available at low interest rates, lesser EMI, for longer repay span & with minimum documentation (last one is, for SBI & Nationalized banks). Actually this whole thing can be biggest economic growth machine for the entire society as imagine the kind of jobs as well industrial turnover which will get generated if so many homes get constructed! And not to forget the peace of the mind it will bring to millions of the families by getting their own home!
And all such actions we need to take really fast or else today nearly hundred plus crore people are living in a condition which keeps their mind always in stressed condition, the day is not long if all such minds burst combinedly then that explosion will make everybody’s life unaffordable, mind it, all those who don’t have to worry today for an affordable home, adios with this warning!
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Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at You Tube link below..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s
Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying!
https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2023/01/defining-good-home-real-estate-in-2023.html
http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2023/02/blog-post.html
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345
For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below
www.punecorporation.org
Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..
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