Home is just not a structure for residing, it’s a place where one find solace and a shelter where one is together with loved ones. When human civilization evolved, caves use to be the place where men & women use to take shelter, which slowly modified into huts and later ameliorated into homes.
Times changed and with increase of technology after million of years, houses have become more sophisticated due to technological advancements. Today we have beautiful homes but few takers. With the increase of population, home building have been constrained due to land and space. Hence the solutions were skyscrapers with higher floors and great interiors. The biggest challenge was the cost as there were less floor space but high exotic interiors. These were specially targeted for the higher income group and not for the middle or below middle class people. The innovative concept was providing room in the skies. For many real estate players it was a profitable business and a fantasy world for the lower income groups.
As every business has its expansion and saturation, the real estate players now started wooing the middle class and as days passed homes were designed with extremely beautiful interiors at a cost so that common people may book the same with their savings. New townships became the mantra with all facilities. These initiatives did develop the regions in a massive way and we witnessed more vibrant greener regions as time elapsed. To add to these initiatives and as a helping hand, financial institutions like banks came forward to give loans under interests payable monthly. The real estate market was flourishing but again faced a saturation point where there were lesser buyers and more homes. These were times of global recession, national inflation, rising costs which hampered the growth. Then came the new concept of affordable housing where you get good quality shelters under affordable costs. The buying amount though varied from cities to towns, but still the purchasing value was on the higher side for middle income group to invest. Some observed that the high price was due to huge costs of the land, time consuming clearances etc. But the main untapped region was the lower middle income group, rural and slum dwellers. It’s a huge market and also had great demand. These problem was addressed through SOCIAL HOUSING.
Social Housing is a very innovative concept with the agenda – Housing for all. These was the opportunity where Real estate Developers can work with the Government to make affordable housing under public private partnerships. It’s very popular amongst the masses and people from all across the regions use to apply for the homes to be built under the social housing schemes.
Social housing also has its own challenges as some homes are built in places where there are less transport connectivity or communication. Dwellers use to find it extremely challenging if there are difficulties in water lines, gas pipelines etc. So, there may have been incidents, where even though Homes were allotted but has no takers. Inspite of problems, social housing has great demands with Government and Real estate Developers working on the same to make life easier. In fact social housing is the key to the bigger challenge – Housing for all.
Personally speaking social housing are the most innovative way to address the needs of the common people towards shelter for the shelter less. Corporates through their corporate social responsibility may like to help the common people so that Government and Private Sector join hands to create a nation where there are houses for all. These will also ensure overall development of the nation. Due to increasing population, we have food shortages, lack of clean drinking water and less homes. It’s through Social Housing opportunities the world can solve one of the biggest problems of shelter. With green technology and earthquake resistant designs, these houses can be the wonders of the world. Imagine a world where no one is homeless and we have homes for every family. That’s where I want to see my world progress. It’s our dream and let’s look forward to it in our near future.
(Above are my personal thoughts and views)
Mr. Mainak Majumdar, CSR (Disaster Management & Environmental Affairs) & Government Affairs Specialist
POLICIES AND IDEAS 