Govt plans to promote housing cooperatives

KATHMANDU:

Ministry of Urban Development is coming up with a policy to promote concept of building affordable housing units for lower-middle- and middle-income groups through cooperatives.

“We have already started discussions on framing the policy and we are planning to come up with its draft by the end of this fiscal year,” said joint secretary at urban development ministry Suresh Prakash Acharya. “Once the draft is prepared we will hire consultants to fine tune it and get it endorsed.”

The policy primarily aims at facilitating housing cooperatives developing housing projects in urban areas to build various infrastructure and public utility facilities.

“The policy will make sure of the presence of infrastructure like schools and health centres in the locality,” Acharya said. “It will also make sure that electricity, drinking water and sewage facilities are available in the area where cooperatives are building housing units.”

Acharya, however, declined to elaborate citing the discussions are in the ‘initial stage’. But he said: “Such a policy will help in the development of affordable housing units for people of lower-middle- and middle-income groups who are currently forced to live in rented rooms or apartments.” At present, many people living in urban areas are living in rented rooms or apartments because they cannot afford to buy houses and apartments built by housing development companies.

Nepal Living Standards Survey 2010-11 says almost 50 per cent of the households in Kathmandu Valley are hiring rooms and apartments for accommodation.

Another survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics says that around 255,444 of the total of 435,544 households in Kathmandu district are living in rented rooms and apartments. Similarly, 44,806 of total 109,505 households in Lalitpur district, and 22,349 of 68,557 households in Bhaktapur district are hiring rooms and apartments for accommodation, says the survey report.

“Housing cooperatives can play a key role in moving these people from rented rooms and apartments to their own houses, as such units can pool financial resources to build housing units for members at affordable prices,” Acharya said.

Source: THT