Business World - Niti Aayog Flags Affordable Housing Stress, Developers Say Subsidies Alone Cannot Help
Subsidies Face Affordability Limits
Niti Aayog says 85 per cent of households in metropolitan areas cannot afford a 30 sq m home even after subsidy, highlighting the gap between household purchasing capacity and formal housing prices. The report also notes that a large proportion of EWS and LIG households lack stable incomes or formal credit histories, making access to housing finance difficult.
Jay Morzaria, chairman, Naredco NextGen and director, Vraj Group, said the affordability challenge is not driven by one factor alone, with high land prices remaining one of the biggest constraints in metro cities. Construction and financing costs, along with limited household incomes, further make homeownership difficult. “Subsidies certainly help, but they cannot fully offset the underlying cost of urban housing.”
The gap between what households can pay and what formal housing costs also makes the location of affordable projects important. “We need to focus on improving land availability, speeding up approval processes and promoting affordable housing in locations with better infrastructure,” Morzaria said, pointing to measures that could improve accessibility for buyers.
