UNIT I

Introduction to Housing:
Among all the primary necessities of human life, “Housing” is always placed to food and
clothing. That is why there is this saying i.e. Roti ,KapadaaurMakan. Shelter is a basic need of
manand is necessary for man to protect him against wind, rain, etc.
So, can we say a bus shelter is similar to a house? No....Man does not need a mere shelter or a
roof above his head with a haphazard collection of building materials.
House does not mean a covered roof for a family. It is a place where man can stay in a
comfortable manner even though it is cheap that will afford him the maximum utility, safety,
comfort, convenience along with a background serenity. But, He cannot build a house in an
isolated area and live all alone then his surroundings will not create a comfortable environment
because man is a social creature. Man loves to live in a society, community.
Housing in general sense refers to a planned layout and development of residential units
along with necessary infrastructure,in healthy surroundings so that people can live pleasantly,
peacefully and along with the required social, cultural and recreational facilities.

Importance of Housing in Architecture:

Housing is important in Architecture because it is very necessary to plan the residential
units properly and provide necessary infrastructure so that people can live comfortably.
There is a need for both quality and quantity in Housing which can be achieved through
architecture (both planning and designing). Hence, housing has a lot of importance in
Architecture.
Below are a few points that need to be considered while planning for Housing. Thereby,
highlighting the importance of Housing in Architecture:
1. Houses should be designed in different typesalong with pleasing elevations.
2. Houses should be properly oriented to get maximum advantage of the sun, wind and
topography.
3. Houses should be designed with proper infrastructure (water supply, electric supply and
drainage facilities) so as to ensure the health and safety of the inhabitants.
4. Density of population should be in accordance with the standards specifications of the
competent authority.
5. Houses should be planned in harmony to the surroundings like lake, streams, greeneries,
etc.
6. Houses of different income groups, cultures and social background should be grouped
together and necessary recreational facilities should be planned and developed.

Relationship with neighborhood and city planning:

All housing projects are nowadays planned on the principles of neighborhood planning.
What is neighborhood planning?
 The concept of neighborhood planning is fundamentally American concept/ idea. The
principal of neighborhood is one is planning for the society and not for an aggregate or group of
houses generally the nature of human beings is to be friendly with neighbors and to share their
interest.
Neighborhood planning is defined as the planning of expansion of the existing housing or
layout near by the / neighbor to the existing layout or housing scheme.
A neighborhood planning means a planned layout and development of residential units
along with the necessary infrastructure that are required to support the day to day activities of
the inhabitants like, a primary school, park, grocery shop and supermarkets such that a sense of
social relationship and local feeling is achieved thereby enabling each individual to come in
contact with others.
Principles of Neighborhood planning:
1. Size: Neighborhood unit must be of a size that is able to accommodate 2000 – 5000
population. For such a population one primary school is required.
2. Boundaries: The unit (neighborhood unit) should be bounded on all its side by main road
wide enough for through traffic.
3. Protective strips: These are necessary to protect the neighborhood from traffic
annoyance and provide suitable facilities to develop parks, playgrounds and road
widening schemes in future.
4. Internal Streets: The internal streets are designed to ensure safety to the school children
and the people. The internal roads must be laid out such that they circulate throughout
the unit with easy access to shops, community centers and primary school such that no
heavy through traffic is allowed.
5. Layout of buildings:To encourage neighborhood feeling and social stability houses must
be designed to suit different income groups.
6. Shopping center: Each shop must be located on the circumference of the unit preferably
at traffic junctions and adjacent to neighborhood units.
7. Community center: Each community will have its center with social, cultural and
recreational amenities.
8. Facilities: All public facilities required for the family for their comfort should by within
east access; these include primary school, temple, club, supermarket, sport center. They
all must be located in the central place within 1 km of reach from the residential unit.
What is City planning?
Now, we have understood that in neighborhood planning, we have a neighborhood unit
which comprises mainly of residential units, primary school, recreational amenities along with a
few shops necessary for day to day activities.
In city planning, the scale is increased and so are the spaces and activities. Below are the list of
elements that are required to be considered while planning for a city:
1. Communications: Roadways, Railways, Airways and waterways.
 2. Built up areas: Residential buildings, Public semi-public buildings, commercial
buildings, Industries, Institutional buildings.
3. Open areas:Openspaces for recreation like gardens, parks, playground and also open
landsfor grave yards, burial places, cremation grounds.
4. Public Utility Services: water supply, drainage, electricity gas supply, telephone lines.
5. Public Amenities: Police Station, Petrol Pump, Fire Brigade station, Milk dairies, Dump
yards.
City planning involves proper distribution of the lands and planning of all the above mentioned
activities.
Hence, housing has a close relationship with neighborhood and city planning. (The scale is
increased and so are the activities, land use and infrastructure)

Housing Demand and Supply

Demand = Requirement
Supply = Production

Urban population of India is already increased from 285.3 million in 2001 to 377 million
in 20111, and expected to reach468 million in 2020, and 533 million in 2025 as per the
projection based on the historical growth pattern of our population. Magnitude of housing
requirements is linked to pattern of growth, settlement status and overall housing quality.

Demand and Supply Curve;

D- Demand; S- Supply; P- Price; Q- Quantity

Demand curve, is demonstrating the inverse relationship between price and quantity. As the price
increases the quantity decreases. (the curve slopes downwards from left to right; higher prices
reduce the quantity demanded) .
Supply curve is demonstrating a direct relationship between price and quantity. As the price
increase the quantity also increases (higher prices increase the quantity supplied). As the price of
an item goes up, suppliers will attempt to maximize their profits by increasing the quantity
offered for sale.
Factors determining the demand of housing are:
1. Income of customers
2. Consumer’s preference – Symbol of status
 3. Availability of credit
4. Location
5. Amenities
6. Infrastructure
7. Quality of the housing
Factors determining the supply of housing are:
1. Availability of land for housing;
2. Price of the land
3. Efficient builders
4. Easy access to housing finance
5. Availability of skilled labours
6. Availability of locally available building materials

The demand of housing is growing in the context of rapid pace of urbanization,

increasing the level of migration especially from the rural areas to cities in search of livelihood,
employment. However, due to the high cost of land values and their low incomes most of the
new as well as poorer sections are not able to assess land, shelter and other services at affordable
prices in urban areas as such the supply of houses to the new as well as poorer sections is not
being met in the cities.
Thereby, leading to amis-match between the demand and supply of houses and leading to
a non – sustainable situation.
Therefore, the main role of the government at all levels is not to seek to build houses
itself but to act as a catalyst and make appropriate investments and create conditions where the
poor people may gain and secure good housing and remove the existing difficulties in the
housing system.
In order to remove these problems National Housing Policy was framed and it has certain
well-defined aims.

National Housing Policy:

India has an area of 328.73 million hectares; the population of India exceeds 100 crores.
In this, 75% of the people still living in villages. According to the statics 4 lakh, 87,170 villages
are present. Keeping in view of the above points the government provides 5 year plan. 8th five
year plan are formed based on the basic criteria of improvement of villages. The 8th five year
plan combines any local agencies to achieve the objectives in this plan.
In this, NHP is proposed. In this policy the planning commission was formed to know the
requirement of house, types of people, no of village house required and no of houses in urban
area are collected and decisions are made.

National Housing Policy intends to:

 Promote Sustainable Development of habitat in the country
 Ensure Equitable supply of land, shelter and services
  Affordable prices to all sections of the society

Aims of Housing Policy:

The housing and habitat policy aims at:
 Creation of adequate housing stocks both on rental and ownership basis.

 Ensuring that all dwelling units have easy accessibility to basic sanitation facilities and
drinking water.
 Facilitate up-gradation of infrastructure of towns and cities.

 Promotion of funds to meet the revenue requirements of housing and infrastructure using
innovative tools.

 Providing quality and cost effective housing options especially the vulnerable groups and
the poor

 Using technology for modernizing the housing sector into increase efficiency,
productivity, energy efficiency and quality. Technology would be particularly harnessed
to meet the housing needs of the poor and also specific requirements of green housing.

 Promoting demand driven approach - subsidy based housing scheme to through financing
policy, including micro financing, self-help group schemes.

 Facilitating, restructuring and empowering the institutions at state and local government’s
level to mobilize land and planning and financing for housing and basic amenities.

Housing agencies and their role in housing development:

On the basis of the aims of the housing policy of the Government of India, both center
and state governments started to carry out certain initiatives at all levels of governments.
 Central Government
 State Government
 Banks and housing finance institutions
Their role in housing development are as follows:
Central Government:
 To act as a ‘facilitator’ and ‘enabler’
 To advise and guide respective State Governments to adopt and implement the National
Housing Policy
 To promote balanced regional development in the country by suitably decentralizing
functions
 To promote action plans for creation of adequate infrastructure facilities relating to water,
drainage, sanitation, sewerage, power supply and transport connectivity.
 To develop economically viable housing promotion models and standards for provision
of physical, social and economic services.
  To develop suitable fiscal concessions in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance for
promotion of housing and urban infrastructure.

State Government:
 To encourage Cooperative Group Housing Societies, Non-Government Organizations
(NGO) and Community Based Organizations (CBO) to have Partnerships with Urban
Local Bodies/in relation to housing development.
 To prepare medium term and long term strategies for tackling problems relating to
provision of adequate water supply, drainage, sewerage, sanitation, solid waste
management, power supply and transport connectivity.
 To promote and incentivise decentralized production and availability of local building
materials.
 To prepare and update Master Plans along with Zonal Plans, Metropolitan Plans, District
Plans and the State level Regional Plan with provision of adequate land for urban poor.
 To promote well designed Public-Private Partnerships for undertaking housing and
infrastructure projects.

Banks and Housing finance institutions:

 Enhance/ strengthen the income spread of housing loans portfolio to increasingly cover
BPL beneficiaries.
 Devise innovative housing finance schemes for targeting the LIG segments, with suitable
subsidy support from the government.
 Develop financial products which encourage LIG beneficiaries to take insurance cover.
 Ploughing part of their resources towards financing slum improvement and upgradation
programmes.
 Mobilize savings and playa significant role in housing finance sector.

Impact of traditional life style:

Life style has an impact on the housing choice of an individual. Life style of an
individual is mainly influenced by three features:
1. Household: Age of the family members in the house, number of people living in the
house (size) and the type of the family (nuclear or a joint family).
Household indicates the necessity of a home; the type of spaces that are required
in the house and the area of the house (at young age we need a larger home but at
retirement age there is a need for a smaller house; households in rural areas
mostly live in single room or two room houses)
2. Socio- economic and cultural background: Income of the family members, their
educationlevels, their occupation, their cultural values; their social status and recognition,
identity.
 Based on their income levels people are classified into Economically Weaker
Sections (EWS), Lower Income Group (LIG); Middle Income Group (MIG) and
High Income Group (HIG) people. Their income levels depict the type of housing
choice. For instance EWS and LIG people tend to depend on Affordable public
housing whereas the MIG and HIG have the ability to afford private sector
housing.
3. Values: Family values (privacy), personal preference (location, convenience to various
types of amenities, preference to travel), health, social interactions (family, friends)
The values of a family also depict the nature and types of spaces that are required
in the house and the surroundings. They also impact the type of the house a
person might be choosing (flats, row houses, villas.)
All the above three mentioned feature mainly depict the lifestyle of a person and as we know that
house is one of the basic necessity of a human, and if deprived of the basic need the people feel
discriminated and marginalized from the society. For a person to live comfortable he must be in
a society which gives him a feeling of his own. Hence, it is very necessary for an architect to
understand the lifestyle of a person before designing a house. Thereby, lifestyle has an impact on
housing.

Rural housing:
Rural housing refers to the poor people living in rural areas such as scheduled tribes,
Castes and other economically backward class families (Below Poverty Line - BPL). In rural
housing the quality of house is more important. The measure of rural housing is on: the type of
the structure and the number of rooms in the house. As we know that ownership of a house
provides significant economic security and social status for a person in the society. It is
necessary for the Government of India to provide housing units and infrastructure development
for not only the people living in urban areas but also for the rural people.
Housing shortage under the XII Plan can be assumed about 40 million. As per census
2011, Government of India (GOI) has identified that rural housing is required in more quantities
comprising of one room and two rooms. In this regard, Ministry of Rural Development, GOI has
produced many schemes to provide housing for the rural poor. Indira AwaasYojana (IAY) is the
biggest and most comprehensive rural housing programme ever taken up in the country. Some
of the other schemes are: Bharat NirmaProgramme and Homestead scheme.
From the current trends of housing in rural India, it can be assumed about half of the
current shortage of 40 million houses would require financing through IAY and interest subsidy
assistance. The rest of the 20 million households would be able to construct their houses through
state schemes, their own sources or informal sources of finance such as money lenders,
borrowing from family and friends or family gifts.
Based on this, the budget proposed for Rural Housing to Planning Commission for the
Twelfth Five Year Plan was Rs.150,000 crore.. Planning Commission has approved Rs 80085
crore. The budget allocation for the year 2012- 13 i.e the first year of 12th Five Year Plan was
11075.00 crore. Budget provided for 2013-14 is Rs 15184 crore.
Rural housing development has to be seen in the context of poverty alleviation and
overall rural development and strengthening the ongoing process and helping people to carry it
forward by supporting the process.
A vast majority of the poor either do not have a house or live in an unserviceable Kutcha
house. According to 1991 Census there are 341 million households who are absolutely houseless
and about 10.31 million households live in unserviceable Kutcha house. The total housing
shortage in the country is thus about 13.72 million. To meet this housing shortage the
Government of lndia has given special attention to the programmes for the rural housing and
expectation are that by 2002 all rural houseless people will be provided shelter.
Rural housing should not be confined to mere provision of a roof over one's head in the
changing socioeconomic-politico system in India in particular and in the developing economies
of the world in general.
Rural housing should contribute to the following:
1) Substantial improvements in the quality of life of the rural households and reflect their
aspirations.
2) The total development of the personality of the rural family.
3) Facilitate provision of all basic amenities, which have a direct impact on the family's
health vigor and efficiency.
4) Internal and external environment of the house should have aesthetic value and should
be eco friendly from the health point of view and
5) Women and children in particular should be able to maintain their health well and be
inspired to pursue economic and social activities.

Public housing;
Public housing essentially aims to provide the basic requirements of functional space for
a family that is, a core house„ or a starter house‟. While it provides essential dwelling space in a
limited area, it is complete in all respects, including a toilet.
Public housing is referred to as the housing provided mainly by the Government for the
people living in urban areas who are not able to afford a home for themselves. The people
mainly refer to BPL, EWS, LIG and MIG. To overcome the housing shortage as discussed
earlier, GOI has come with various schemes to develop houses for the people who have migrated
to urban areas inserach of work.
In public housing the land that is to be developed for housing is generally the
government’s land, all the necessary infrastructure (roads, electricity, water supply, elcetricty)
are provided at subsidized rates. Assistance will be provided by the Government for upgradation
of Kutch houses and dilapited housing.
Among the governmental side, central and the state government like developmental
authorities, state and central owned public undertakings; housing boards, city improvement trust
etc. are involved. In addition to above all, housing and urban development corporation, called
HUDCO has been continuously involved in the preparation of various policies for the
development of housing especially for poor sections of the society. Life Insurance Corporation
and other agencies in the insurance sector are also contributing their might through promotion of
loans and other advances to the employees in the private as well as public sector in large scale.

Private sector housing

The recognition of massive housing are being encouraged by provision of adequate
finance provided by national housing bank, central bank i.e. Reserve Bank of India, commercial
bank and housing development financial corporation called HDFC and other specialized
institutions developed by the nationalized banks for housing. Such type of housing that occurs
without any direct involvement by the government is said as private housing.

Housing Finance
Housing finance companies provides financial assistance to formal and informal (no proof of
income) low income customers so that they can own a house.
There are three approaches of Housing finance. They are as follows:
1. Catalyzing the Market.
2. Increasing the affordability for a customer by an interest rate subsidy
3. Controlling prices:
Student is required to highlight an understanding of each of the approaches mentioned below.
Catalyzing the Market:
A large part of the low-income segment can be served by private developers and financiers.
These include:
1. Enabling supply of housing by providing fast and time bound approvals for LIG people.
2. Developing infrastructure to increase supply of affordable and serviced land
3. Earmarking serviced land for EWS and LIG housing in city development plans.
4. Waiving stamp duty and registration fees for end customers only.
Increasing the affordability for a customer by an interest rate subsidy:
The government provides a 5% interest rate subsidy for loans up to Rs 5 lakh for LIG customers;
thereby encouraging LIG people to build a home for themselves.
Controlling prices:
Poorer customers like EWS customers may not be able to afford housing despite the measures
taken to catalyze the market and increase affordability. The government would have to directly
control price and enable EWS customers to buy houses.

Effect of Location and Neighborhood characteristics on housing prices.

The location characteristics on housing prices are provided below:

 Location and access to market,
  Location of workplace,
 Distance of house to place of work,
 Distance of house to children's school,
 Distance of house to place of shopping,
 Distance of house to place of recreation and worship,
 Amount paid on transportfrom home to area of activities (place of work, children's
school, recreation and worship),
 Time spent from home to area of activities.

The importance of each of the attributes is very essential for the selection of a house. The
location of the market and accessibility to it sometimes play a decisive role in household choice
of a house. The location of workplace is the most important factor when deciding to live in a
place since this factor determines and affects a lot of things. The location of workplace was
examined along with the distance to the house and this has its effect on the time spent and the
amount paid on transportation.

The neighborhood characteristics on housing prices are provided below:

 Length of stay of household head in the area
 Flooding in your neighborhood
 Cost of refuse collection.
 The feeling/level of security.
 Incidence of crime.
 The noise level.
 Number of markets/ shopping centers in the neighborhood.
 Number of waste disposal centers.
 Number of police stations in the neighborhood.
 Number of children's playground in the neighborhood.
 Number of recreational facilities in the neighborhood.
 Number of nursery and primary school in the neighborhood.
 Number of public hospital/ health centers.
 Number of private clinics in the neighborhood.
 Type of people living in the area.