Rising Prices And Land Availability May Just Turn Out To Be Spoilers In The Quest To Provide Afforda

WHERE ARE THE AFFORDABLE HOUSES

WHERE ARE THE AFFORDABLE HOUSES

One of the major factors affecting affordable housing is land be it land availability, land-accessibility or cost of land the question of land always comes into the picture when plans for a housing-project are drawn up. That this land factor should play such a vital role when affordable housing projects are concerned only underlines the importance of planning and provision of substantial portions of land on which such housing projects may be developed. With land prices within the city ever on the rise, the CMDA (Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority) has had to make a few adjustments to help establish affordable housing in the city, "While preparing the Second Master Plan, we have taken into consideration the high land value and construction cost," says Susan Mathew, vice chairman of CMDA, adding, "The review of space standards were made and the plot size for residential construction has been brought down from 90 square meters to 80 square meters. For EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) it is retained as 20 square meters in Chennai city and 40 square meters in the rest of the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA)."

Cross-subsidization (the practice of charging higher prices from one group of consumers in order to subsidize lower prices for another group) is another strategy adopted by the CMDA to combat land prices and rising costs, as it advocates the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission's (JNNURM) strategy which stipulates a minimum of 20 to 25% of developed lands in housing projects for EWS and Lower Income Groups (LIG) with a system of cross-subsidization. This strategy has takers, as cross-subsidization is being looked upon as an effective method of making land and building material affordable to those belonging to LIG."Cost of land is a consideration, as much as the rising prices of building materials," says Durganand Balsavar, a city-based architect."However through exploring cross-subsidized housing, these adverse impacts can be mitigated considerably," he says.

While measures like reduction of plot size and cross-subsidization may be encouraging, there are those who believe that land availability is not the only decisive factor of affordable housing."Land prices just outside the city are as low as Rs 1,400 and Rs 1,800 per square foot it is infrastructure, at the end of the day, that plays the biggest role in affordable housing," says Shripal Munshi, an urban planner and partner with SV Architects, a city-based architecture company, "Facilities onsite, transport connectivity, sewage and basic amenities can determine whether the land in question is viable enough for the establishment of a housing project."

There are takers for Munshi's point of view, as architects feel infrastructure is undoubtedly the way forward."Investment in infrastructure is a basic and non-negotiable requirement for affordable housing," says Durganand, "New sources of renewable power generation, recycling waste water, investing in roads, public transport and social infrastructure like colleges, schools, hospitals and markets facilitates affordable housing."

According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), housing is affordable if it costs the occupant not more than 30% of his income for gross housing costs, including utilities.

Chennai is the 4th largest metropolitan city in India and the total population of Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) as per 2001 census is 70.41 lakhs. The total number of households as per 2001 census in CMA is 16.19 lakhs and the total number of housing units in CMA is 15.83 lakhs.

According to a study conducted by the CMDA in 1989-90, the number of households living on pavements was 9,491 at 405 clusters at an average of 23 households at a place.

As per 2001 Census, Chennai city had a slum population of 8.19 lakhs, which is approximately 19% of the city's population. The percentage of slum population to total population has reduced from 30% in 1971 to 19% in 2001.

The National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007 stipulates 10 to 20% of land in every housing project or 20-25 % of FAR reserved for EWS/LIG housing. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) launched by the government of India stipulates a minimum 20 to 25% of developed lands in housing projects for EWS/LIG housing with a system of cross-subsidization.

It is mandatory on the part of the developers to reserve at least 10% of the site area and provide houses for LIG with dwelling units not exceeding 45 square meters in cases of large-scale developments exceeding 1 hectare. This rule was brought in the SMP to encourage EWS and LIG housing developments.

The statistics on the number of Planning Permission Applications issued for residential layouts, since 1989 reveals that 44,673 residential plots have been approved of which 19,075 plots are for EWS.

Recently, development regulations have been amended by providing an additional FSI concession of 50% over and above the normally permissible FSI for those who construct units of 30 sq m and below. For those who construct dwelling units of 50 square meters and below, an additional FSI concession of 30 % over and above the normally permissible FSI is given.

Courtesy:- Times Property dt-11-12-2010

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by: raj 02

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