Affordable housing should be included in government policies
Housing shortage
Pakistan population is now 208 million as per latest census 2017. Pakistan is facing the severe shortage of housing. We need 10 million new housing units to solve the housing crisis in Pakistan. We are building just 2-3 LAC houses every year, whereas our annual requirement is 1 million new housing units. The housing crisis in Pakistan is worsening with the passage of time.
Housing condition in Pakistan
60% houses in Pakistan have passed their useable life and should be replaced with the modern houses. 50 million people have no access to basic facilities like toilets. Many houses in Pakistan have no proper kitchen, bedrooms or living rooms. Masses are forced to live in slum dwelling without proper ventilation or natural light.
Causes of housing crisis in Pakistan
The first reason is the fast inflation rise as compared to wages. Due to abnormally high property prices, it’s very hard to buy a decent home in Pakistan. The second reason is the lack of affordable housing development by the government. The provincial governments started the affordable housing schemes, but scale was very limited and masses could not benefit these ventures.
Affordable housing should be included in government policies
Pakistan is one of the fastest developing countries of the world. We are building infrastructure at fast pace as CPEC has started a boom of roads construction. We are spending billions of dollars on roads, so we should also spend on affordable housing construction. Housing should be included in the national infrastructure development schemes.
People, who cannot afford to buy houses or even cannot pay the rents, should be given free houses or at least on affordable rates. Social housing or government housing is always included in the government policies of Western countries. Pakistan should also include affordable housing development in its infrastructure projects.