THE federal, Sindh and Punjab budgets have made special allocations for funding low-cost housing projects for which a cumulative sum of Rs9bn has been earmarked.

Of this, Rs6bn has been set aside for the prime minister’s housing scheme, Rs2bn for Ashiana schemes in Punjab, and Rs1bn for Benazir housing schemes in Sindh. Housing does not figure prominently in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan budgets.

According to relevant quarters in Sindh, the Shaheed Benazir Housing Cell has so far constructed more than 6,500 low cost houses, and plans to construct another 6,000 in 22 districts, at a per unit cost of Rs285,000.

The project model adopted is unique, as it involves both NGOs and the local community, and constructs 20 units in each stretch. The land and labour has to be provided by the beneficiary, while the cost of construction material and skills is borne by the government. The scheme falls under the purview of the Sindh Fund Management House, which has assets of Rs1.76bn.

The source was reluctant to comment on the quality of construction and transparency in the process of selection of beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, the Ashiana project is being managed by the Punjab Land Development Company in Lahore. The total cost of a house is Rs1.2m, payable in installments over 20 years. The allotments are made through ballot, but the applicant has to meet the qualification criteria. The beneficiary family’s income must be under Rs30,000, and it must not own any property.

The Punjab government intends to replicate the scheme in Sheikhupura, Bhakkar, Muzaffargarh, Multan, Bhawalpur, Chiniot, Kasur, Vehari and Bhawalnagar.

Again, there were reservations over the actual beneficiaries in the relevant quarters, as they said speculators in the real estate business are too powerful and find ways to game any set of rules to their advantage.

Salim Qasim Patel, Vice Chairman of the Association of Developers and Builders (ABAD),made a case to induct the private sector in government housing initiatives to keep the unscrupulous elements at bay.

“Business is not the business of the state. The government needs to provide an enabling environment for the builders to kick-off activity in the construction sector. According to our calculations, a 100,000 new houses help government generate Rs200bn more for the exchequer. Housing and construction boosts 72 allied industries, from cement to tiles to pipes to wood etc,” he told Dawn.

“We are hoping for a lead role for ABAD, as our interaction with the government has been very productive,” he commented.

“Left to itself, the market has not been able to manage the demand and supply situation in this key sector. The demand for housing at affordable prices has not been matched with supply, and the gap seems to be growing with time,” said an expert.

“The absence of a housing policy or a strategy to address the challenge speaks for itself. The Supreme Court has banned land transfer deeds till computerisation of land records to minimise disputes, but no one seems to be bothered. This is all political theatrics. Even if the government recognises housing to be a problem, it is not a priority issue,” a senior civil servant commented.

Insufficient and politicised spending on low-cost housing schemes in Pakistan, the most urbanised nation in South Asia with a record number of squatter settlements, can serve the unholy nexus of the land mafia, contractors and their patrons, but it will not work,” commented a renowned expert in community development.

Hence, the impact of the housing-related spending announced in the federal and provincial budgets is not expected to bring about a tangible change in the lives of the 60m poor people in a country of 188m unless sustained and serious efforts are made over the long-term..

“If at all, ill-conceived and half-baked housing schemes will add to an already chaotic situation in urban/rural housing in the country,” he commented.

Arif Hasan, the reputed architect with experience in community development, considers the cumulative allocations by the federal and provincial governments for the sector “a drop in the ocean.

“A serious attempt to provide shelter to the poor will require land, infrastructure [water, sanitation and other civic amenities], and credit to cover for grey structure, as well as advisory services for design and for monitoring the quality of construction. Anything short of these prerequisites will be doomed. It will also require a legal framework to keep speculators at bay,” he argued.

“The government needs to acquire valuable land in city centres from departments like Pakistan Railways and cantonments, and develop it in consultation with professional community developers and representatives of the civil society to suit the interests of the city at large, and to suppress the trend of commercialisation of public spaces,” said a leading expert.

Shehri, an NGO that is dedicated to Karachi’s environment issues and which initiated and won civil litigation against violations of land development laws, was studying the budgets and was not prepared to offer its position at this point.

Mrs Ali Bhai, General Secretary of Shehri, said, “We firmly believe that the poor should not be ignored and instead provided with housing in the downtown near their place of work, more so because the public transport system is in a shambles. If need be, people who can afford private transport, should be moved out”.

Federal Housing and Works Minister Akram Durrani and Secretary M Younus Dhaga were approached in Islamabad, but were not able to send their response till the filing of the report.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, June 30th, 2014