Mumbai When Union Minister of State for Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja visited Mumbai last year, one of the key projects detailed to her by Metropolitan Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad was the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s plan to build 5 lakh homes available on rent, seen by many as the answer to the huge influx of people settling in Mumbai each year and to the proliferation of slums Mumbai has witnessed in the recent past.

Under the scheme, the MMRDA will construct 5,00,000 rental tenements over the next five years in and around Mumbai. The first lot has already been okayed: 35,000 rental homes to be built by Dhanashree Developers at Vasai, in Thane district adjoining Mumbai.

Meanwhile, the state government advisory body, the Mumbai Transformation Support Unit (MTSU), recently submitted its draft policy on allocation and management of the proposed rental housing stock to the state housing department.

The report likens the MMRDA’s rental housing project to a similar scheme promoted by the Bombay Development Department (BDD) in the 1920s, at Worli, Naigaon, Sewri and Parel.

The draft policy has recommended that for the purpose of maintenance and management, the flats should be handed over to the developer on a priority basis.

The next option is to hand it over to a private caretaker agency or a NGO. In case both alternatives do not work out, the housing stock could be allotted to central/ state government or Public Sector Undertakings to be used as staff quarters. The last option recommended is to allot it to private sector companies for providing accommodation to their employees.

The caretaker agency will collect the rent and hand it over to the MMRDA after deducting its pre-decided fee. The rent will be determined based on location of the project, cost of construction, cost of management and market conditions. “It would be in the range of Rs 800 to Rs 1,500 per month. The purpose is mainly to provide homes for a large number of the city’s population that is forced to live in slums as they cannot afford a home here,” said MTSU project director UPS Madan.

He added that criteria pertaining to domicile and minimum income will ensure that the homes cater to the intended section.

Only those who do not own a house in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, preferably a domiciled resident of the state and those who have a gross family income of Rs 5000 and above will be eligible to apply. The 160 sq ft flat will be allotted on leave and licence basis for 11 months to a maximum of five years.

Not only has the MMRDA’s project been welcomed by the Centre, the need to create a substantial rental housing stock is also one of the key recommendations of the Task Force on Affordable Housing under HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, set up by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

“What’s more,” says one of the developers bidding for other areas where rental homes are set to be constructed, “is that the policy makes it worth our while to invest in rental housing.” With 4 FSI for the scheme (and only a quarter of that built space to be handed over to the government), it makes sound business sense.

Meanwhile, officials are also waiting for further directions on the other recommendations of the Task Force’s report. Among its key suggestions, many directly applicable to Mumbai’s housing crisis, are simplifying procedures for land acquisition and conversion of agricultural lands for urban use, especially to develop affordable housing; a proper assessment of land requirements for different uses including affordable housing; upward revision in FSI with commensurate investment in infrastructure and a professional study to recommend a comprehensive, long-term urban land

policy.