(The Gist of PIB) Affordable Rental Housing Complexes scheme

(THE GIST OF PIB) Affordable Rental Housing Complexes scheme

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in the Lok Sabha recently.

About ARHC:

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has initiated an Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) for urban migrants/poor as a sub-scheme under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).
The scheme was launched on 31st July 2020 as a part of the government’s economic package. The scheme is in line with the vision of AtmaNirbhar Bharat.

Target beneficiaries:

A large part of the workforce in manufacturing industries, service providers in hospitality, health, domestic/commercial establishments, and construction or other sectors, labourers, students etc. who come from rural areas or small towns seeking better opportunities will be the target beneficiary under ARHCs.

Aims and objectives of ARHC:

To address the vision of ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ significantly by creating a sustainable ecosystem of affordable rental housing solutions for urban migrants/poor.
To achieve the overall objective of “Housing for All” encompassing the need for affordable rental housing for urban migrants/poor. ARHCs will provide them dignified living with necessary civic amenities near their place of work.
To create a conducive environment by incentivizing Public/Private Entities to leverage investment for creating affordable rental housing stock to take care of their own requirements for workforce and also cater to neighbouring areas, if they have available vacant land.

Features of the scheme:

Existing vacant government funded housing complexes will be converted into ARHCs through Concession Agreements for 25 years.
Concessionaire will make the complexes livable by repair/retrofit and maintenance of rooms and filling up infrastructure gaps like water, sewer/ septage, sanitation, road etc.
States/UTs will select concessionaires through transparent bidding.
Complexes will revert to Urban Local Bodies after 25 years to restart the next cycle like earlier or run on their own.
Special incentives like use permission, concessional loan at priority sector lending rate, tax reliefs at par with affordable housing etc. will be offered to private/ public entities to develop ARHCs on their own available vacant land for 25 years.