Govt to launch 'rental housing' scheme for migrants, poor

Aiming to provide temporary shelter for migrants and homeless people, the government is firming up a new initiative to launch a rental housing project in the big cities to answer their accommodation needs.

"We are launching a major initiative to promote rental housing on a large scale, for which an investment of Rs 6,000 (Rs 60 billion) crore is proposed," said a senior Urban Development Ministry official.

"Migrants who flock to big cities in search of livelihood often face housing problems. Since most of them are economically weak, they face difficulties in getting suitable accommodation," said the official.

According to the plan, the rental housing project is expected to be first taken up in the national capital before being later replicated in other cities.

The project aims at providing shelter to migrants and the homeless for short periods till they acquire their own houses, the official said.

The housing shortage is at nearly 18.78 million according to estimates in 2012 and 95 per cent of the shortage is in the low-income category.

The NDA government is also going to launch the Sardar Patel National Urban Housing Mission to enable slum dwellers, economically weaker sections and low income groups to own houses in urban areas.

"The Urban Housing Mission is a part of the government's goal of 'Housing for All by 2022'. Under the grand initiative, over 10 crore new houses need to be built in the next eight years," said the official.

The government hopes that the Housing for All initiative will spur economic growth as it offers huge investment opportunities.

However, the official said, "It requires massive funding as housing in urban areas alone is estimated to cost Rs 22.50 lakh crore (Rs 22.50 trillion). We are keen to promote the private sector in a big way to achieve housing construction targets."