Real Estate Community Forum

Housing is an issue of direct concern to every individual and has immediate bearing on the quality of life. A home is a prerequisite of a decent and civilized human life. However, fulfillment of this basic need remains a distant dream for millions upon this earth. It is estimated that nearly one billion people are literally homeless or live in extremely poor conditions. Out of these, 100 million have no shelter whatsoever and they are wandering on the streets, under bridges, in vacant lots, doorways, etc.

The problem of housing in our country is linked with the mass poverty, where more than one-third of total population is living in degraded slums, which are unfit for human habitation. The housing shortage in 1985 was estimated to be 24.7 million. Out of which 18.8 million was in rural areas and the remaining 5.9 million was in the urban areas. It is further estimated that the housing shortage may go up to 29.2 million units in 1990, out of which 22.3 million is in the rural areas and the remaining 6.9 million is in urban areas.

The impact of this mounting backlog continues to be most severely felt by the urban poor. This multiplying deficit in residential dwellings has resulted in the rapid growth of slums and deterioration in the quality of shelter. This is much evident in the emerging cities of Trivandrum, Kozhikode and Kochi. If adequate measures are not taken in a time-bound manner the urban development problems in these cities are likely to get out of hand.

The builders in Kochi have taken the bold step forward to address the problems of the urban poor. Even though they had to face severe financial constraints, it did not deter them from offering something for everyone in the key urban centers. Thus people with medium incomes have been able to own living spaces in the urban areas, which would have been practically impossible for them when considering the present spiraling cost of land values in the city.