Living in a Ground Plan

            After my post last week about Tata’s Nano, I was pleasantly surprised to see the company’s name appear once more: this time, in the housing development sector. However, when I started perusing Tata Housing’s website (http://www.tatahousing.in/index.php) I was left with more questions than answers. I wanted to learn more about Tata Housing’s low-income and sustainable housing options. What I saw on their website, instead, were professional renderings of architecturally-stunning houses and apartments that are being marketed to wealthier Indians. I naturally had to cross-reference the information, but it was difficult to get a clear picture of Tata Housing’s business plan.

            It appears that Tata Housing has focused primarily on luxury housing, instead of low-income housing. Even though some of its low-income projects are listed as “completed” on its website, there is very little proof or documentation of the projects’ successfulness. As noted in the 2010 article we were assigned in class, Tata Housing formed a partnership with Micro Housing Finance Corporation (MHFC) in order to help Indians finance the purchase of these homes. On MHFC’s website (http://www.mhfcindia.com/index.html), there are links to the various “completed” housing projects that the company has financed. The links are either hit or miss – some show the facades of housing projects, others just reveal ground plans. Of course, MHFC states a disclaimer above the links: “MHFC is constantly screening projects which meet our parameters – essentially good quality, clear title, affordable housing, in urban areas (though please note that MHFC is not responsible for the quality and title of the properties - customers need to make their independent verifications of the properties).”

            Perhaps Tata Housing has encountered internal management issues that have delayed the construction of new projects. I am inclined to support this statement after viewing a LinkedIn group (“Tata Housing: New Haven Boisar – Flat owners Forum”) comprised of people who pre-purchased apartments. According to the owners, the project’s completion has been delayed by “labor shortages” and difficulties routing a water supply to the apartments. Many of the flat owners, who made the purchases in 2009 and 2010, have been told that they cannot move into their homes until the spring/summer of 2013. These flat owners most likely belong to India’s middle class, which, according to the article (http://www.fastcompany.com/1280149/tata-maker-2000-car-build-8000-apartments), makes between $6,000 and $10,000 each year. Even though I do not doubt that the tenants will be pleased with their new homes, once they are ready, Tata Housing has done a deplorable PR job (which not only affects their relationship with people who depend on their housing projects, but also affects their business with foreign investors that might want to support future projects).

            Regardless of the shortcomings of corporate housing developers, I am still interested in the innovative ideas that are being applied to make living in India more affordable and sustainable for the impoverished. While researching Tata Housing, I stumbled upon an idea by young architects Filipe Balestra & Sara Göransson. Balestra and Göransson have been developing a construction method that utilizes existing tenements in India’s slums. One of their renderings features an intriguing array of apartments created out of recycled materials and allow for kaccha houses (old temporary houses) to have additions built on top of them to make room for commercial, agricultural, and residential uses within a single unit. While this idea is extremely innovative, I struggled to find current kaccha houses that had undergone these changes. I suppose that, regardless of whether the innovators are wealthy housing developers or selfless architects, innovation requires consistent support and funding in order to make dreams realities.