The housing needs of the fast-growing metropolitan city are spiralling. By 2021, Kochi’s population is expected to touch 7.8 lakh, which means that 1.9 lakh additional houses will be needed for all income groups.
And, only five per cent of these houses will be required for the high income class. As land has become very scarce, finding it for residential projects has become all the more difficult, especially for middle and low income groups.
Experts recommend multi-storeyed budget apartments for MIGs and LIGs. Accor-ding to V. Suresh, housing and urban development specialist and former CMD of HUDCO, the rising cost of land in the city is a major hurdle in the way of affordable housing projects.
“In Kochi, land component contributes 50 to 60 per cent of the total cost of the house while construction cost is only 20 to 30 per cent,” he said while presenting a paper on ‘Housing for Greater Kochi – Challenges and Prospects’ during the seminar on Vision 2030, organised by Greater Cochin Development Authority.
The major concerns in the housing sector are rapid urbanisation, inflow of migrant population at all levels, security of land tenure, limited land availability, soaring prices and rising cost of construction and infrastructure.
The effective ways to address the shrinking land resource are optimum and intense use of limited land, innovative concepts like land pooling, land sharing and TDR (transfer of developmental rights), according to the former HUDCO chief.
There should be special housing projects for the disadvantaged who have land, but no house (kutcha house), remarked Suresh.
“Central funds under JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) and Rajiv Avas Yojana have to be effectively utilised for affordable housing initiatives for the MIGs and LIGs,” he added.