affordable land and housing in asia - International Union of Tenants

2. THE STATE OFAFFORDABLE LANDAND HOUSINGThe housing stock in many countries in Asia isgrossly deficient both in quantity and quality.Housing shortages and poor housing conditionsare largely the result of the rapid urbanisationthat has occurred in the region. Inadequateand overcrowded housing, unsafe water, andpoor sanitation in densely populated citiesare threatening the health and well-being ofhundreds of millions of men, women andespecially children, and the consequences for notdealing with these conditions for governmentsare far-reaching.2.1 HOUSING NEEDS AT THENATIONAL SCALEGetting recent and reliable quantitative data onthe housing stock, needs, deficits or surpluses isdifficult. Data is often not collected, or, if it is, itis unreliable and unsystematic. Nevertheless, acursory analysis of the housing situation in Asiareveals that there is a pressing housing shortagein most countries in the various sub-regions. Forexample, in South Asia alone there is a shortageof 38 million units, not counting those needingrepair. 49Countries in South-Central Asia have some of thelargest housing deficits, both in terms of absolutedeficit (households without houses) and deficitsrelated to extremely deteriorated or temporaryhousing that requires full replacement. Thehousing shortage in Sri Lanka was projectedto rise from 400,000 to 650,000 units between2002 and 2010. 50 The Central Bank of Sri Lankaestimates that the current annual unit demandstands between 50,000 and 100,000 units. 51 Thecurrent urban housing shortage in Bangladesh issimilar with 659,000 units.Pakistan’s housing deficit has been steadilyincreasing by 270,000 units per year. 52 Thecountry has an estimated backlog of 7.5million units, which is considerable given thetotal national housing stock is 20.5 million. 53Affordability is a problem, as two thirds of thepopulation cannot afford any housing withoutsome type of financial subsidy or support: thebacklog for these households stands at 4.5million units.Estimates of housing need in India vary widelyalthough a conservative estimate suggest that in1991 the shortage of urban housing units was 5.1million; by 2001 this had grown to 7.1 millionunits. 54 This shortage was comprised of actualdeficit (23.5 per cent), overcrowding (33.1 percent), housing needing complete replacement(29.0 per cent) and kutcha (temporary) housing(14.4 per cent). 55 As these housing deficit figuresare only for urban areas the national (urban andrural) housing shortage is likely to be muchhigher. Some estimates currently put the nationalhousing deficit as high as 40 million units.Figure 11: Housing reconstruction in Banda Ache, Indonesia. Photo © UN-HABITAT18PART two