This is an extract from a blog I wrote with Anant Maringanti, Director of Hyderabad Urban Labs –

The argument that reform of housing market will lead to greater access to housing for the urban poor may seem theoretically sound, but fails in practice. The prescription can be summed up as follows: reform housing markets so as improve access to housing for the middle class and help the poor with education so that they can earn more and become property owners. While this argument would seem contentious even in developed world contexts, it is particularly problematic in the context of Indian cities, where a large section of the market operates outside or in the shadow of formal, legal, and urban planning frameworks.Left to the market, housing prices are determined by relative desirability, depending on size, location and amenities on offer. The notion that a reduction in policy distortions might bring formal sector housing in central city locations within reach of the bottom 40% is, to put it mildly, misplaced. 

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