Project pioneers in mumbai

According to a Rediff report, the unregulated housing market in Mumbai recently underwent a transformation by acquiring an organised rental sector...

The project is a joint effort by real estate developer Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL) and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

The project will provide rental housing to some 43,000 low-income families in Mumbai. The development will include 525 acres of land in Virar, which is the northern suburb of Mumbai.

The properties will be owned by real estate investment trusts (REITs) or corporates. While this type of organised rental housing is a common phenomenon in developed countries such as the UK, it will be the first of its kind in India.

The project is located about two kilometres from the railway station in Virar, and is planned for construction in four separate phases. While the first 10,000 units will be completed by March 2011, the entire project will be finished by 2015.

The layout of the units was approved by the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO), with a 160 square foot carpet area each and combined in 14-storey buildings. According to the article, these high rise buildings meet the standard norms for such structures and are also designed to offer resistance to earthquakes and tremors.

The demand for rental housing in the country is significant, according to Pranay Vakil, the chairman of Knight Frank India, a real estate consulting firm. Mr Vakil also warned that infrastructure should be developed properly in order to prevent the structures from becoming "vertical slums".

Source: www.hotproperty.co.uk