In 2020, a Policy Lab series on “Addressing the Housing Vulnerabilities for Migrants” was organised in partnership with Centre for Policy Research (CPR), Cities Alliance, GIZ India, World Bank, Habitat for Humanity and Human Settlement Management Institute, HUDCO. Keeping the COVID-19 crisis and the mass exodus of informal workers, it discussed the present state of rental housing in India, the potential of the newly launched ARHC scheme, and the framework that would be required to sustain this initiative in the long run.

A Twitter chat on housing and city futures organised by India Housing Report on the occasion of World Habitat Day, October 4, 2021.

This is the second post in a series on the India Housing Report focusing on digital technology and tech entrepreneurship in housing, where we try and examine what motivates entrepreneurs in this area, the challenges and potential of using digital solutions, and whether India is ready for such innovative products in the informal housing market. In this piece, we interview Ganesh Shankar, Co-Founder of Homehub, about their product and services.

Digital technology and tech entrepreneurship in housing is rapidly evolving in the Indian context, especially around the affordable housing segment. This is the first post in a series on the India Housing Report focusing on this space, where we try and examine what motivates entrepreneurs in this area, the challenges and potential of using digital solutions, and whether India is ready for such innovative products in the informal housing market.

The role of access to information in empowering the poor is well-acknowledged in India and reinforced by the experience of the Right to Information Act, 2005. However, information asymmetries continue to hamper the ability of the poor to make informed decisions about their future. A new online resource seeks to address this gap in the context of housing. The IHR team speaks to the founders about their motivations, challenges and aspirations for this platform.

A report on IHR’s first webinar on Friday, 30th July on housing finance access to those with unclear titles. With experience across rural and urban contexts, the panel discussion revealed the complexities of the issue and highlighted potential directions for intervention.

Webinar on Friday, 30 July 2021, 5 PM IST onwards on Zoom, with a live-stream on Facebook

The poor in India’s cities have endured evictions and demolitions of their homes and settlements for decades now. While long legal and political battles have sometimes resulted in a modicum of justice through rehabilitation of affected households, demolitions themselves are irreversible acts that forever destroy a settlement and transform the area. initiatives like the Missing Basti Project (MBP) seek to document these erasures by utilising the power of the Internet to create an archive of material memory.

India’s urbanising middle class is at the brink of an unprecedented increase in residential cooling demand. New research by Centre for Policy Research and the University of Oxford answers a set of fundamental questions around India’s cooling transition.

An initiative to archive past and ongoing evictions in Delhi to question as well as mobilize action for the prevention of further evictions.