Promoting an affordable housing market: an institutional analysis

Insufficient provision of housing for a fast growing urban population is leading to squatter settlements and slums. Some view this informal sector as a way of fulfilling the shelter needs of the urban population. The informal housing market, however, is not an acceptable solution, as the urban poor are paying a cost without security of tenure or any insurance for their investment, not to mention the unhygienic living conditions. In India efforts to stimulate a formal affordable housing market by privatising and deregulating housing markets and promoting private sector funding for housing and infrastructure as an alternative to provision by the government has not resulted in a market for affordable housing. Scholars have argued that the approach was not successful, because it is not economically feasible, largely due to the institutional constraints of land and credit. This thesis reports on a case study of housing provision and the potential for a market in affordable housing in Raipur, India, an urban centre with a million-plus population. This included surveys of households living in slum areas, builders and developers and of facilitators in the public and private sectors. While this study finds support for the explanation that institutions do constrain the market, it also finds that the intended markets did not arise because the policy was overlaid on an existing institutional structure of housing provision (SHP). The practice of clientelism acts as a meta-constraint and therefore this study argues that just removing the institutional constraints will not automatically lead to the creation of a housing market for urban poor. Some initial recommendations are made regarding the pre-requisites for such markets, and how they could be designed by restructuring the SHP. In doing so, the study puts forth a theoretical and methodological framework that can be used for institutional studies of affordable housing, as well as for other sectors.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Ram, Padmini

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Allmendinger, Philip
• Hodge, Ian
• Needham, Barry

Licence

• https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/bb5d4584-de24-4304-99dd-8f006dc782bf/download
• https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
• https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/dc050854-071c-4ad6-823a-45ae646191e5/download

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.4462

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/260254