Former cabinet secretary and NITI Aayog member Rajeev Gauba said India’s urban housing shortage could be tackled by unlocking 10 million (mn) vacant homes and using excess unutilised land held by public sector undertakings (PSUs). He said land availability lay at the heart of the problem and estimated that land accounted for as much as 50 to 70 per cent of total project cost. He urged states to waive land?use change fees and exempt stamp duty on land and transactions linked to affordable housing.

He noted that urban population was projected to rise from 500 million to nearly 900 million by 2050, and said the country faced a deficit of 50 to 70 million formal housing units across municipal areas. He warned that registration charges alone could add five to 10 per cent to transaction costs, increasing the burden on developers and buyers and making delivery of affordable housing more difficult.

He urged PSUs and other government entities to identify and recycle excess landholdings for affordable housing, citing models such as South Korea’s dedicated zoning and Singapore’s public housing which locate housing close to transit networks, job centres and social infrastructure. He said ownership alone would not meet the needs of a growing urban workforce and pointed to migrant workers, industrial labourers, students and young professionals who required secure affordable rental housing close to workplaces. He highlighted the anomaly that nearly 10 mn units remained locked owing to fear of overstay and litigation, prompting owners to keep properties vacant rather than rent them out.

He called on states to adopt the Model Tenancy Act and asked the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to link adherence to funding for central schemes. He noted Delhi’s amended transit oriented development policy would reserve 65 per cent of floor area ratio for affordable housing, reduce parking provisions and cap ground coverage at 40 per cent to discourage private vehicle use. He said the policy could open up around 207 to 210 sq km and create around 1.8 mn affordable dwelling units.