MMRDA’s rental housing scheme on shaky ground

The change in nomenclature is one of the 24 issues that the committee is looking at before submitting a detailed report to the state government next month,said MMRDA commissioner Rahul Asthana,also the committee chairman. On the need for MMRDA to foray into the affordable housing sector,which already comes under the purview of the MHADA,he said,“The panel is also studying whether the scheme should remain solely with the MMRDA or other agencies should be roped in.” These include MHADA,municipal corporations,nationalised banks,big IT companies and government departments like Home,Public Works and General Administration.

The MMRDA has till date received 204 rental housing proposals from private developers. Of these,location clearance has been given to 50 projects for a total of 2.55 lakh rental units. But actual work has started only at 11 sites that will generate 21,328 rental houses. The under-construction projects are by Ackruti,Dosti,Majestic and Chedda developers in Thane,Indiabulls,Supreme and Adhiraj in Panvel and Lodha and DB Realty in Mira-Bhayander. Asthana added that if the panel decides to stick to the rental scheme,it will study the rental housing model in the UK where non-profit companies are allowed to manage such units.

“In the UK model,companies have to bid to manage the apartments and a part of the profits is ploughed back into generating more rental housing,” said Pankaj Joshi from the Urban Design Research Institute. He added that the MMRDA should not stray from addressing the dearth of rental housing. “MHADA looks into the creation of affordable housing; rental units are necessary for the economically weaker sections which cannot even afford to buy a house,” said Joshi.

While the government has chalked out three ways of generating rental houses,the panel is expected to finalise the management and maintenance model for these units. S C Deshpande,joint project director with MMRDA,said the other issues before the panel include increasing the size of the units from 160 to 400 sq ft,reservation for various amenities within the layouts,single window clearance for all projects,time-bound environment and tree-cutting permissions. “The panel will also study the possibility of constructing rental houses in New Mumbai and areas that come under the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation,” said Deshpande.