MUMBAI: From Thursday onwards, the BMC will start selling 426 inclusive homes, meant for those who annually earn ₹9 lakh or less, who fall under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Lower Income Groups (LIG). The homes, located in Kandivali, Bhandup, Jogeshwari, Goregaon, Byculla, Kanjurmarg, and other areas, have an area of 322 sq ft to 645 sq ft and will be priced from around ₹60 lakh to ₹1 crore. The BMC hopes to earn around ₹300 crore from these homes, while experts argue that, despite the “inclusive” moniker, the homes are out of the realm of affordability for most.
HT was the first to report on September 21 about the sale of 186 homes, to which 240 homes have been added now.
Applications for the homes will be open from 10 am on Thursday to 5 pm on November 14. After application fees and deposits are paid, a list of eligible applicants will be finalised on November 18. After this, the civic body will conduct a lottery, and the names drawn will be made public on November 21 at 5 pm
For the first time in the civic body’s history, the BMC will be selling the flats it has acquired under the Regulations 15 (inclusive housing) and 33(20)(B) (development of affordable housing/rehabilitation & resettlement on private plot) of the Development Control and Promotion Rules (DCPR), 2034, which came into force in 2018.
Of the 426 homes, 186 have been handed over to the BMC under Regulation 15. It states that 20% of the area/homes in residential projects on plots measuring 4,000 square metres or more must be handed over to the BMC. Of these, a fifth are reserved for housing project-affected people (PAP).
These homes are largely located in the Western Suburbs, in Borivali, Marol, Jogeshwari, Goregaon, Malad, and Kandivali, with some in Byculla and Kanjurmarg. Of them, 122 homes, with an area of 322 sq ft or under, are for the EWS category, while the remaining 64 homes, with an area of 645 sq ft and below, are for the LIG category. Twenty-seven homes in Kanjurmarg, which were handed over to the BMC in 2020, are not habitable and require minor repairs.
The remaining 240 homes at Bhandup were acquired under Regulation 33(20)(B). These homes are all applicable for EWS sections, i.e. those annually earning ₹6 lakh or less, and are sized 322 sq ft or under.
However, costing at least 10 years of their earnings, housing expert Chandrashekhar Prabhu remarked, these homes do not fall under the definition of affordable. “I have always maintained that unless the state’s inclusive housing policy is affordable to those for whom it is ostensibly catering, it would be a sham. Defined by international standards, a house becomes affordable only if it can be priced within a person’s five-year annual income, but these homes do not meet that criterion. These homes may be slightly cheaper than homes at the market rate, but that doesn’t make them affordable. Who will pay ₹60 lakh for a 300sqft home when they can go to Navi Mumbai or beyond and get a proper 2BHK for that cost? In addition, the builder, who becomes the primary beneficiary, receives extra incentives, including FSI, for providing these homes. There is no such thing as affordable housing in Mumbai, and the inclusive housing policy was never conceived to change that. The state is indeed responsible for providing affordable homes to all those who aspire to buy one, and there are solutions available to make this happen. But, the political will is absent due to the pressure from the builder-politician-bureaucrat nexus.”
An official from the estate department, however, rebutted that the homes are priced at the ready reckoner rate as per the DCPR provisions.
The application for the homes will go live at 10am today https://bmchomes.mcgm.gov.in.
Assistance is available on calls at 022-22754553, and email ID bmchomes@mcgm.gov.in, or from the assistant commissioner of the Estate department in the BMC headquarters.