Land bank shrinks, affordable housing project loses steam…..Shalini Nair
Proposals for redevelopment under area-share plan have reduced to a trickle
Proposals for redevelopment under area-share plan have reduced to a trickle
The city seems to be losing out on its last chance at getting public housing at a time when the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) is grappling with an alarming scarcity of land. The housing boards attempt at generating affordable housing in Mumbai an estimated 2 lakh houses through private redevelopment of existing MHADA colonies has fallen flat.
In August 2010, MHADAs Mumbai Board woke up to the dire need of generating housing stock from every quarter possible as its own land bank had shrunk to less than two hectares in Mumbai. The housing board decided to stop charging premium from builders who come forward with proposals for redeveloping the 105 MHADA colonies spread over 1,500 hectares in Mumbai. Instead, it decided that a percentage of the additional homes (built-up area) that are available after rehabilitating the residents using the 2.5 extra FSI should be handed over to MHADA. The housing board would then sell these houses to those in need through its annual lottery.
Since then, the stream of proposals for redevelopment has reduced to a trickle. A few developers who have applied insist on paying the premium as they do not want to part with precious real estate. Figures from MHADA show that since December 2008 when it announced its policy of offering an increased FSI of 2.5 for reconstruction of its colonies, 456 redevelopment projects have been given the go-ahead. In comparison, after August 2010, once MHADA decided to stop charging premium and instead accept only built-up area, barely six proposals have come forward for approval under the area sharing scheme.
These will yield MHADA merely 80 flats as against the couple of lakh apartments it was hoping to get. Another 23 proposals are under scrutiny of the housing board; not a single of these has agreed to share built-up area with MHADA.
Worried MHADA officials point out that developers prefer paying a premium for the extra FSI as it comes up to only 40 to 60 per cent of the ready reckoner rates. In comparison, the market value of the new flats is at least 10 times as much. Developers do not want to part with homes as they do not want to dent their high profit margins. On the other hand, society members too do not wish to go for the area-sharing scheme as it means that they cannot bargain with builders for new apartments with an area over and above MHADAs stipulated 300 sq ft, said R B Mithkar, executive engineer at MHADAs Mumbai Board.
Until two years ago, major developers were known to lure MHADA residents, especially in prime areas of Khar, Bandra, Andheri, Worli, Chembur and Ghatkopar, with incredible offers of new houses that are two to three times larger than their existing homes.
Mithkar added that in addition to the 80 tenements, the housing board is banking on redevelopment of its three large colonies where it has entered into a joint venture with private builders. These include Patra chawl in Goregaon, Aaram Nagar in Versova and PMGP colony in Mulund, which are expected to fetch MHADA 3,000 apartments for its public housing kitty.