Different perspectives to Affordable Habitat

It is interesting to note how different stakeholders look at affordable habitat. For example, an asset manager defines that an affordable habitat has to be affordable in terms of living cost as well as transit cost to the work place. On the other hand, a builder's point of view is: to make a house affordable, it should be located in the city outskirts. Hence to understand the dynamics of this domain, we studied the analyses of Jones Lang LaSalle India and Lafarge Group.

Jones Lang LaSalle - Indian Real Estate - Charting a Global Course
Jones Lang LaSalle is a professional services firm specializing in real estate. It provides investors, developers, local corporates and multinational companies with a comprehensive range of services including research, analytics, consultancy, transactions, project and development services, integrated facility management, property and asset management, sustainability, warehousing and logistics, capital market, residential, hotels, health care, senior living, education and retail advisory. For further information, please visit www.joneslanglasalle.co.in. They define the Indian Real Estate Ecosystem as shown below:

Source: http://www.joneslanglasalle.co.in/ResearchLevel1/Indian%20Real%20Estate%20-%20Charting%20a%20Global%20Course.pdf

Lafarge Group

The study was conducted by Escale Responsable for Lafarge Group in May 2010. Lafarge is a world leader in building materials. In order to understand the housing needs, aspirations and the market segment at the bottom of the pyramid in India, a study was conducted by interviewing slum dwellers in Kolkata and some organizations working in this sector. The following organizations were interviewed:

This study identified the following aspects as the key to affordable habitat:

Following affordable habitat models in this segment were identified in the study:

Availability of affordable finance also comes up as one of the major influencers.

Source: http://www.escale-responsable.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Affordable-housing-in-India_needs-and-emerging-solutions.pdf

Both studies agree on the following aspects:
1. A strong stress on development of effective micro-finance infrastructure and other finance sources
2. Need for new technology and innovation
3. Sustainability
4. Efficient construction management
5. Industrial mass production of houses
6. Availability of cheap land

Indian Urban Growth

As per the 2011 Indian census, the population of India stands at 1.2 billion of which 31.16% live in urban areas. This is up by 3.35% as compared to a decade ago. The decadal urban growth rate of India stands at 31.8% while that for rural India is 12.2%, a decline of around 6%. The rate of urban growth has been caused due to multiple factors like - creation of SEZs, social and economic order, government policies, etc. The housing needs of the country is very deeply affected by these changes. The images below graphically represent the percentage of urban population in different states and the rate of growth in urban population.

                                  

Regional housing needs and market potentials can be identified by an in depth study of the factors that are influencing the Indian urban growth.

Govenrment of India Initiative - Basic Services to the Urban Poor

As per 2001 census, 61.8 million people live in Indian slums. The ever increasing number of slum dwellers causes tremendous pressure on urban basic services and infrastructure.To cope up with the rapid urban growth, the Government of India initiated a mission called Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) under the Jawahar Lal Nehru NAtional Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).


The main aim of the mission is to attain a reform driven outlook that can achieve fast track, planned development of some identified cities with a focus on efficiency in urban infrastructure/ services delivery mechanism, community participation and accountability of Urban Local Bodies towards citizens. It is planned with a framework for a period of 20-25 years with 5 yearly updates. A city development plan is required before the city can access mission funds.


It focuses on integrated development of basic services (security of tenure at affordable prices, improved housing, water supply, sanitation, and delivery through convergence  of other already existing universal services of the government for education, health and social security). Providing housing near place of occupation is also aimed at.


The financing pattern has been formulated as under:


Category of cities                                                           Grant                              State/ ULB/ 
                                                                             Central Government         Parastatal share, 

including 

Beneficiary Contribution

Cities with 4 million + (2001 census)                            50%                                        50%
Cities with 1-4 million (2001 census)                            50%                                        50%
Cities/towns in North East states & J&K                       90%                                        10%
Other cities                                                                 80%                                        20%


It has been decided that housing should not be provided free to the beneficiaries by the state government. A minimum of 12% contribution has to come up from them, which in case of SC/ST/ BC/OBC/PH and other weaker sections is 10%.


The cities selected under the mission are as follows:


Delhi, Greater Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Patna, Faridabad, Bhopal, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Lucknow, Madurai, Nashik, Pune, Cochin, Varanasi, Agra, Amritsar, Visakhapatnam, Vadodara, Surat, Kanpur, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Meerut, Jabalpur, Jamshedpur, Asansol, Allahabad, Vijayawada, Rajkot, Dhanbad, Indore, Guwahati, Itanagar, Jammu, Raipur, Panaji Shimla, Ranchi, Thiruvanantpuram, Imphal, Shillong, Aizawal, Kohima, Bhubaneshwar, Gangok, Agartala, Dehradun, Bodh Gaya, Ujjain, Puri, Ajmer-Pushkar, Nainital, Mysore, Pondicherry, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Haridwar, Mathura, Nanded.


To know more about the mission : http://smcsite.org/bsup%5B1%5D.pdf

Modular and Multifunctional Spaces

The concept of modular and multifunctional spaces has been a well established design aspect. But see how architect Gary Chang from Hong Kong took it to the next level by transforming his 344 sq. ft. apartment into 24 different designs just by sliding panels and walls. He converts his living space into multi-utility zones as per the need of the day.

How can we use this in the Indian context of slums? So we went into some slum houses and studied the interiors. Very interestingly people use every cubic meter of space available to them. Hence the challenge of modularity of our context lies in the modular utilization of 3D space. For example, the washing space is not in use all the time. Very interestingly some of the slum houses had a washing area so small that a person can only crawl in to use it. Others had not so well demarcated washing areas and hence all other members of the house will go out when someone wanted to take a bath.

3D space utilization

A house with a washing area in which one needs to crawl in as the height is only 1.6 m

TATA Housing Development Company and affordable housing

"We plan to invest Rs 2,500-3,000 crore in 2011-12 to develop existing and new projects in the affordable housing segment," Tata Housing Development Company managing director Brotin Banerjee said in March 2011. 


To achieve this, Tata Housing has formed a subsidiary Smart Value Homes to develop affordable houses in the price range of Rs 5-35 lakh. New Haven – the hill township at Vasind, is expected to offer 1,252 apartments including 2 BHK and 3 BHK homes starting at Rs. 15 lacs to 35 lacs INR with a minimum size of 638 sq.ft. Vasind is a developing industrial area and close to Kalyan. It will be constructed under the guidance of Indian Green Building council so as to achieve minimal impact on the environment. It has also collaborated with Micro Housing Finance Corporation to provide the informal segment (first time house owners and self-employed) of buyers with finance opportunities. A tie up with SBI and HDFC has been done to provide the formal segment with finance. The house allotment will be done on a lottery basis and some flats have been reserved exclusively for 1st time buyers.


A comparison between the prices offered by VBHC (as discussed in the previous blog) and Tata Housing shows that both the companies are offering similar prices. After having experienced the innovation that TATA Nano marked in, the nano in the habitat domain seams still to be far fetched. Or is this price tag already the housing nano?

Affordable Habitat Models - Value and Budget Housing Corporation and Janadhar Constructions Pvt. Ltd.

Several initiatives have been taken by private entrepreneurs towards building affordable houses for Indian low income groups. Value and Budget Housing Corporation is one of such initiatives. The company tries to streamline the construction sector activities through efficient management techniques by drawing its inspiration from industrial production philosophy. Construction techniques like Engineered Metal Forming Systems for Concreting are used. This technique helps in building an entire house (inclusive of construction, design, specification, planning, budgeting, execution) in one day. Building Information Modeling and 3 D modeling techniques help in planning the processes so as to avoid any clashes between architectural , electrical, plumbing and structural design in the pre-construction phase itself. Hence various models can be drawn out from which the most optimum can be selected. Thus VBHC can deliver apartments to its clients within 12 months of booking.

The offer price of a VBHC house is from 6.8 to 13.9 Lakhs INR for a studio, 1 BHK and 2 BHK apartment where the caret area varies from 251 - 481 sq. ft. Since land prices are a big hurdle, VBHC has opted to construct houses that are minimum ground + 9 and located in sub-urbs or outskirts of cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, NCR, etc. VBHC has decided to work on profit levels that is common in industrial products, 10-20%, rather than the construction industry standard of almost 100%.


Janaadhar Constructions Pvt. Ltd., on the other hand, is floated by Janalakshmi Social Services, a not-for-profit entity. It aims at blending marketing principles with not-for-profit spirit. They offer 1 BHK and 2 BHK apartments of 400 and 615 sq. ft at 5 Lakhs INR and above. It is supported by Sterling Developers Private Limited, a leading name in the construction industry for high - end premium housing projects. Hence it presents a unique blend of partners to this venture. Janaadhar is also building housing project in outskirts of Bangalore to reduce the land price.


Both the companies have also initiated a financing scheme for the customers since they realized that the Indian banking sector does not lend to non-salary holders. But the ground reality of most customers of these companies is that they are self-employed. They are bent towards providing good living conditions by incorporating amenities like schools to the residents too.


The basic principle behind the organization of both the companies is to make housing affordable through streamlined construction management, efficient construction techniques and financial assistance. Any brief visit to a slum or a chawl presents another very basic requirement of the inhabitant there...the community spaces and the social life. These aspects have not been considered in both the cases. The other ignored aspect is the fact that the slums provide a living and work space together, hence the term habitat. The true impact of these socio-economic indifference of the two projects on its residents can be assessed only when they actually get inhabited.

Social Innovations and Affordable Habitat

Think of a world without slums! The city of Indore can now think of it, thanks to Mr. Himanshu Parikh.


Mr. Himanshu Parikh focuses on urban planning, infrastructural development and environmental upgrading. He developed a new holistic concept for slum development called slum networking. It addresses a range of facilities like road and footpaths, storm water drainage, sanitation and sewerage, water supply, earthworks and soft landscaping, street lighting, solid waste management. It is achieved through minimal donor funding and maximum community participation. It uses an efficient microcredit system.


Mr. Parikh's study of slum development revealed that slums develop along the natural drainage paths. Hence he designed drainage and sewerage at low cost by making them follow the topology of the area. Thus the cheapest way to provide sewerage to a city is to build major sewers through the slums and then connect the higher (and usually richer) areas of the city to them. This scheme helps to secure funds from the local and national government for the construction of the drainage. Some donor money also comes in. The cost savings give leverage to the local government to provide tenure to slum dwellers who then willingly invest in the enrichment of their property due to the sense of security built up. The city of Indore saw a mind boggling upgradation of slums within two years and the slums are no longer recognizable as slums.

Mr. Parikh envisions a world without slums - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfK9UqZkzOY