The current housing shortage in urban areas is estimated at 19 million units. Of this, about 95.6 per cent is estimated to be from Economically Weaker Sections {EWS} and Low Income Group {LIG} households, who cannot afford houses costing above INFH 5 lakh‘. However, supported by the strong growth in household income in urban areas, it is expected that income growth may push a significant number of EWS and LIG households into a higher category.

Thus, by the year 2022, majority of demand is expected to be from LIG and MIG segments of households, constituting 50 per cent of the total housing demand. While, the total investment required for urban housing is about USD2.3 trillion, occupation of 9 million vacant houses could help reduce the housing need. If these houses are occupied, the total investment required would reduce to about USD2 trillion.