Page 62 - HUDCO-SHELTER-April22

CASE STUDIES
Figure 12: Key enablers for
housing
government needs to focus
on to accomplish the vision of
Housing for All.
The BLC vertical under
PMAY-Urban has emerged
as the most successful among
the four verticals in the last
five years since the launch of
the scheme. It is evident that
the success of this vertical
is based on the existence of
land ownership among the
urban poor, especially in
smaller cities. Recognising the
relevance of land ownership
in disseminating the subsidy,
states are dovetailing their
land-related schemes and
providing the urban poor
with land ownership to
enable them to access the
BLC subsidy. Consequently,
the convergence of land
titles (e.g. Box 1) with the
BLC-PMAY subsidy is a
crucial enabler for states to
leverage the subsidy and
has scope for incorporation
in the national guideline for
PMAY. However, in many
60 HUDCO-HSMI Publication
metropolitans and Class I poverty. In such a scenario,
cities, the land is unaffordable the convergence of PMAY-
for the urban poor, owing to Urban with available housing
extremely high real estate finance schemes for the urban
rates. Further, ownership- poor must be addressed in the
based housing may not be a broader policy guideline.
preference for these sections
due to the unaffordability of Moreover, while the
land and housing and mobility construction of new houses
and migratory practices. under PMAY-Urban has
Moreover, the excessive focus accelerated in recent years,
on house ownership excludes limited attention has been
many from accessing safe and given to neighbourhood-
sanitary affordable housing level habitat development.
in such a scenario. Therefore, The deficient focus on holistic
the PMAY must account for spatial planning results in the
a range of tenurial options, construction of houses without
the allied basic infrastructure,
including rental housing, to thus negatively impacting
address this situation. the lives and livelihood of
Despite subsidies from the recipients. Apart from the
the local and the state lack of emphasis on a habitat
government, there is a approach in the PMAY-Urban
considerable financial share to scheme, the limited financial
be borne by the beneficiaries capacity of the governing
for house construction, which agencies of smaller cities deters
they may have to mobilise them from investing in basic
through lifelong savings infrastructure improvements
or borrowings; in most for the beneficiaries in their
cases, the latter is utilised jurisdiction. Therefore,
for this purpose. Despite unless supplemented with
measures adopted by the holistic city planning,
states to institutionalise mere house construction to
credit for construction, high provide housing for all will
dependence on informal create unsustainable and
sources persists. The high- non-resilient cities. While
interest rates for informal the PMAY-Urban guideline
borrowing deter potential directs the ULBs to ensure
beneficiaries from availing of that individual houses
the BLC scheme and have the constructed under BLC have
potential to push beneficiaries adequate provision for basic
who take recourse to it into infrastructure (including
a vicious cycle of debt and water, sanitation, sewerage,