Rental housing body mooted for MMR’s needs

There are thousands of flats lying empty under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s (MMRDA’s) rental housing scheme, and the authority has now proposed that a separate rental housing authority be formed for Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) in order to maximise MMR’s housing needs. This proposal was made in the draft regional plan (RP) 2016-2036 of the MMRDA.

In its chapter dedicated to housing needs, the MMRDA has said that a new rental housing agency can be established and the housing stock created for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Lower Income Groups (LIGs) through various regulatory instruments and projects should be handed over to this agency to be used as rental housing stock.

The chapter further reads, “Stocks other than for EWS and LIGs can be used by the rental housing authority to facilitate housing for employees. Also, a study to identify the number of housing organisations suitable for affordable housing should be undertaken.”

MMRDA was appointed as the project implementation agency when the rental housing policy was announced back in 2007.

The aim of the scheme was to provide 5 lakh homes measuring around 160 to 320 square feet. Later, more than 1 lakh homes were given location clearances for the project. But only 30,000 houses reached the construction clearance stage, and the scheme was not taken up further since there was no clarity on the same, which led to confusion among the developers.

It is being said, however, that the MMRDA is now proposing the creation of the separate rental housing authority so that it can monetise the unsold stock of homes it had constructed under the rental housing scheme.

Several attempts to reach UPS Madan, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, did not elicit any response.