Housing policy may not make homes affordable

MUMBAI: From a stage in one of the city’s largest suburbs, Ghatkopar, the BJP and the Shiv Sena together announced a real estate bonanza for the teeming suburbs

MUMBAI: From a stage in one of the city’s largest suburbs, Ghatkopar, the BJP and the Shiv Sena together announced a real estate bonanza for the teeming suburbs that promises unlocking more space to build homes and redevelop shaky buildings, both of which have been sluggish so far.

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CM Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray decided to extend the cluster redevelopment scheme and revamp incentives for old tenanted buildings to the suburbs, and increase the Floor Space Index — the ratio of the total built-up area to the plot area.

The announcements put the densely-populated suburbs — home to 93.56 lakh people, of which 76 lakh are registered voters — in focus like never before, but urban planning experts branded them as poll gimmicks. They pointed out an isolated increase in FSI for certain sections will neither boost redevelopment, nor provide a solution to the pressing problem of unaffordable real estate.

“The announcements are just a notional uplift. The problem is there are no large plots in the suburbs, so an increase in FSI isn’t of much help,” said Sulakshana Mahajan, urban planner with the think tank Mumbai Transformation Support Unit. “There are restrictions on small plots, such as complying with fire norms, for instance.” Mahajan said the provisions are not likely to make a major impact soon considering the languid real estate market.

“There is no demand, and even with the additional FSI, what will come out are luxury apartments beyond the realm of common affordability,” she said.

Neera Adarkar, a practising architect and urban researcher, said the move will only make the suburbs more dense, but without any increase in infrastructure.

“To consume all this FSI, the government will have to start giving concessions while creating open spaces. The density on the available plots will increase, and providing the amenities will be impossible. The quality of life will worsen,” she said.

Extending the cluster redevelopment policy and redevelopment incentives for individual old tenanted buildings, both of which are currently restricted to the island city, will make an FSI of at least 4 and 3, respectively, available for such structures. Suburban buildings are currently eligible for a maximum FSI of 2 for redevelopment. The CM announced an increase in overall FSI for redevelopment of 56 MHADA colonies, most of which are in the suburbs.

For plots less than 2,000 sqm, Fadnavis promised to change norms to allow developers to take up them for redevelopment by paying a premium instead of parting with a share of the housing stock.

Fadnavis also promised free housing on the same site, for those eligible among 90,000 slum dwellers occupying a significant portion of sensitive airport land.