A Maha loss: 37 lakh flats left vacant in Maharashtra

Home empty home! That’s the story of Maharashtra as well as Mumbai.

A huge stock of 37 lakh houses, including 4.79 lakh houses in Mumbai alone, are lying vacant, according to district level data from census 2011 released by the Census Directorate. This year, 10.5% houses are lying vacant in the state as compared to 8.5% 10 years ago.

Mumbai, which is ranked the third most promising investment market, has as many as 1,15,947 houses in island city and 3,63,815 in suburban areas lying vacant, while in Thane district, 5,42,463 houses are vacant.

Initially refusing to believe that the number of vacant houses could be so high, Anand Gupta, treasurer, Builders Association of India, said that the vacant houses must belong to investors.

“Investors neither prefer to stay in these houses nor want to lease them out. They considering renting out their properties a risk, and don’t trust the judicial system either, which is full of loopholes,” he said.

However, the census authority said that it found about 1.5% of these houses locked, with the residents probably away, and that could have added to the increased percentage. The census data included residences as well as other dwellings such as shops, offices, hotels, hospitals, factories, workshops and places of worship.

The data also reveals that another possible reason for the increased percentage of vacant houses may be that the developers are not willing to sell their properties at low prices, and hence are keeping them locked to wait till they can get higher prices.

Gupta, however, said, “There are very few builders who have kept their flats on hold. They can’t hold back their properties for a long period because they have financial pressures.”  

But he agreed that over the last few years the number of houses sold has progressively declined. “This is because developers have had to face a lot of hardships in getting the notorious BMC’s approval for any proposal.”

The state has 2.38 crore housing units for the lower income group, ie one-room-kitchen flats, 76.25 lakh are one BHK, 31.93 lakh are two BHK and 12.39 lakh are three BHK. Only 1.5% (3.57 lakh) are ‘luxury houses’. This index clearly shows that there is more demand for houses meant for the lower income group among buyers.

The data reveals that in the last 10 years there has been an increase of just 10% in the construction of houses in the state. And a maximum chunk of this has been sighted only in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Raigad and Kolhapur.