Odisha to rent out unutilised govt buildings to urban migrants

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has asked all concerned departments to identify vacant and unutilised government buildings in urban areas so that they can be converted into affordable rental housing units under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban 2.0.

In a letter issued to senior officers, Usha Padhee, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government, Housing & Urban Development Department, said that while earlier housing policies mainly focused on ownership, the PMAY Urban 2.0 scheme has introduced a rental housing model to address the needs of people who cannot afford to buy homes.

The government said affordable rental housing is especially important for urban migrants, industrial workers, working women and other sections of the urban poor. It added that access to rental housing can help prevent the growth of informal settlements and improve productivity in cities by providing secure living conditions for workers in the industrial and informal sectors.

As per the guidelines of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Urban 2.0, affordable rental housing will be implemented through two models. Under the first model, existing government-funded buildings or houses that are lying vacant can be converted into rental housing either through public agencies or in a public-private partnership mode. Under the second model, private or public entities can construct, operate and maintain rental housing for economically weaker sections and low-income group families, and recover their investment through rent over a long period.

The letter said the local authority will fix the initial affordable rent based on a local survey. The rent can be increased once every two years by 8 per cent, with a maximum increase of 20 per cent over a period of five years.

On this basis, the state government has decided that buildings and houses constructed earlier by the Central or state government but currently lying unused should be taken up as affordable rental housing projects. These buildings will be made livable through repairs and retrofitting, with funding provided under the PMAY Urban 2.0 scheme of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

All departments have been asked to identify such unutilised government buildings or houses located in urban areas across Odisha and inform the Odisha Urban Housing Mission, which is the state nodal agency for implementing PMAY Urban 2.0, for further action.