Ahmedabad to see flood of affordable homes

After having declined steadily for three years in a row, availability of affordable homes - mainly 2BHK units - in Ahmedabad city is set to surge. As many as 71,749 affordable homes are currently being built, with more than half being 2 BHK dwellings. These will be ready over the next two or three years. Figures from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) suggest that 35,826 units with carpet areas between 50 and 66 square meters (538 sq feet to 710 sq feet), and 7,237 units with carpet areas ranging from 66 sq m to 80 sq m (710 sq feet to 861 sq feet) are under construction. The number of units smaller than these, with carpet areas of up to 50 sq m - is 24,198. These units have been approved by the municipal corporation over the last three and a half years and are at various stages of development will awaiting building use (BU) permission. Most of these units are in areas like Lambha, Vatva, Nikol, Vastral, Vatva and Odhav in the east and Gota, Ghatlodia and Makarba in the west. Over the last few months, proposals for affordable housing schemes have begun to decline, AMC sources said. CREDAI national president Jaxay Shah said, "These are encouraging signs that affordable housing is picking up, but I feel we are still short of the target. With Ahmedabad's population and migration, we need at least 80,000 2BHK units supply. Right now it is exactly half that number."