The state government decided to roll out a rental housing scheme for the urban poor by converting vacant and unutilised government buildings into dwellings under the Affordable Rental Housing (ARH) vertical of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0 (PMAY-U 2.0). Additional chief secretary Usha Padhee asked departments to identify assets and share details with the Odisha Urban Housing Mission. The aim is to generate long-term rental income from idle properties while addressing housing shortages.

Padhee has asked the Home, Agriculture, Finance, Food Supplies, Panchayati Raj, Water Resources, ST and SC Development, Health and Cooperation departments and other wings to list vacant houses and buildings under their control that can be converted. The instruction covers both state and central government properties. Identified sites will be assessed for inclusion in project pipelines.

Officials noted that housing is central to urbanisation, affecting health, education and economic opportunity, and that earlier policies had focused on ownership models. PMAY-U 2.0 has introduced Affordable Rental Housing to address the needs of urban migrants, industrial and informal sector workers and working women who require secure affordable accommodation but cannot own immediately. The vertical aims to expand access to rental solutions for these groups.

Implementation will follow two models: converting government funded vacant buildings into rental housing through public private partnership arrangements and allowing private and public entities to construct, operate and maintain units for economically weaker section and low income group families, recovering investments through rental income over time. Unutilised assets will be repaired, restored and retrofitted with funding under the ARH vertical. Initial rent will be fixed by the local authority based on a survey and rent enhancement will be permitted biennially by eight per cent up to a maximum aggregate increase of 20 per cent over five years. The initiative is expected to transform idle public assets into long-term rental income generating housing while supporting workforce stability and local economies and reducing informal settlements.