The low-cost dream

Prime Minister Imran Khan seems all set in moving ahead with his ‘vision’ to provide low-cost housing to Pakistan’s most underprivileged. On Thursday, the Prime Minister inaugurated one of the many projects under the umbrella of his grand Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme in the shape of a 1,500-home complex for labourers in Islamabad. As he spoke to the media on the occasion, the premier acknowledged that for most Pakistanis, labourers in particular, owning a house is an impossible dream. His own scheme, however, would be different, he vowed. “Now, they (labourers) can have their own houses,” he asserted. The prime minister did not stop there either. He told reporters present on the occasion that under his scheme, the government would be giving a subsidy amounting to Rs100,000 on every house for the next three years.

On face value, all these ambitions seem to be noble. But estimates suggest that close to 20 million Pakistanis live without a roof over their heads. A thousand and a half houses may be a start, but it would do well to remember that they are no more than that. There are deeper concerns with such seemingly populist schemes as well. For one, if the past is anything to go by, it does not take long for a low-cost housing scheme to become an upscale one. Several urban planners have already pointed out such concerns. In the words of Arif Hasan, for instance, low cost or not, sooner or later such schemes only serve to fill the pockets of the rich. We have already seen one such example in the State Bank’s low-cost scheme. Costing between Rs25,000 to Rs30,000 a month, the scheme has largely stayed beyond the reach of the urban poor.

Even when houses or land in such schemes make it to the intended segment, the allottees often sell or rent them further. This is less due to any materialistic gains, and more to do with location and lack of amenities. Finally, there is a serious risk of such projects backfiring economically. The world has seen numerous examples of housing bubbles created with the best of intentions. One hopes this is not going to be the case with the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2021.

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