THE LATEST
Roundtable Discussions
Date
11th January, 2025
About the event
To further our research on the Renting Realities in the Mumbai Metropolitan region, Plural conducted a closed roundtable discussion in Mumbai with experts from policy, finance, legal and real estate. During this discussion, the team deliberated on bottlenecks and existing gaps within the industry and discussed implementable solutions on varied aspects of rental housing. Different viewpoints helped to create a multi-pronged approach to the issue.
Participating Stakeholders
Gautam Chatterjee – Former Chairman MahaRERA
Sanjay Ubale – Former Principal Secretary, Maharashtra
Vidyadhar K Phatak – Former Chief Planner, MMRDA
Dyan Belliappa – Director, Aarusha Homes
SK Padhi – General Manager of National Housing Bank
Madhusudan Menon – Former Director, Micro Housing Finance Corporation
Jasmine Saluja – Partner, Plural
Oormi Kapadia – Partner, Plural
Tanuja Vartak – Researcher, Plural
Pritika Akhil Kumar – Senior Researcher, Plural
Rahul Sawant – Researcher, Plural
The Way Forward
Within the rental market, it has been observed that the demand for housing is immense as it is also varied. However, it is unfortunate that governments over the years have done little to understand the needs of the Indian population, much less support the improvement of existing rental housing avenues or the expansion of rental housing in new areas.
Through this research project, we have tried to shine a spotlight on this important, yet often ignored facet component of housing and we hope to address this situation through a four-pronged approach as detailed below:
a) Direct Engagement with State Government: Development of feasibility report grant, establishment of a committee, conference to release 5 point Action Plan;
b) Collaboration with NHB and MoHUA: Strategies to be developed for national impact;
c) Partnering with Real Estate Developer Platforms: Working with MCHI-CREDAI, NAREDCO, PEATA for regulations, financial models, taxation, incentives, REITs; and
d) Pilot Projects: Pilot cases to be developed and implemented.
Rental housing is an integral part of the housing tenure systems in cities, and is also integral to the stages of a migrant’s upward mobility from squatter settlement to ownership housing and to the growth of youth who try to make a living away from home. Rental housing must be an essential part of the government’s approach towards housing if it hopes to achieve its mission to provide ‘Housing for All’ and to eradicate slums within our major cities.
Policy recommendations
Taxation laws direct investment in real estate
Practical implementation of conceptual recommendations is necessary
Rental housing is the primary step towards attaining a shelter
Formation of a Rental housing federation