Country faces shortfall of 5.5 million housing units

There is a shortfall of 5.5 million housing units across the country and at least 24.8 million housing units are required to cater to a population of 149 million. This was disclosed in a report issued by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on 'State of Human Rights'. It was informed that according to constitution of Pakistan article 38(a), the state shall secure the wellbeing of the people, irrespective of sex, caste and race, by raising their standard of living.
It was also mentioned that Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 25(1) refers that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and his family, including housing.
Homelessness, over-crowded housing, a mounting shortage of dwellings particularly in urban areas and limited availability of housing finance, points towards acute housing crisis in the country.
It was stated that the situation is more worst in the case of government employees who are not been given their due housing allowances and residences.
Another encouraging sign was an aggressive campaign by the banks to offer loans for house building. At the same time, variety of factors speculation in the land market that pushed prices beyond the reach of most people and action against 'developer's mafia' came late and did little to change the situation.
Government documents stated that an addition of 570,000 housing units is required each year, against an actual supply of 300,000 houses. This created backlog of 270,000 units each year, making it increasingly difficult to catch up with the need.
While unofficial estimates showed that at least seven million new units are required to meet housing needs, especially in urban areas and the population in Karachi is rising by an extraordinary seven percent each year, manly due to migration into the city, and 600,000 housing units are needed each year to meet the needs.
It was informed that figures available on housing, based on the 'Population and Housing' Census, showed that an average of 6.6 persons occupied mainly slums which often lacks basic amenities.
It was also noted that globally, the construction and housing sector accounted for 10 to 12 percent of GDP and seven percent of employment. These figures were far lower within the country, mainly due to the limited construction activity. This in turn is linked to the limited availability of housing finance.
Report informed that about 3 to 4 billion is available against a demand of 70 billion, while new campaigns by banks to offer loans catered essentially to a limited number of urban dwellers.
It is recommended by HRCP that the grave housing shortage must be given urgent attention and a holistic approach must be taken to the issue of housing and this must be recognised alongside other policies in the interests of poor.
Government must initiate and launch new schemes to provide housing facilities to low paid, poor people and government employees must be given their due hiring allowances and new housing colonies and residences must be constructed throughout the country to meet the dire need of housing units.