**EDITORIAL: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s timely observations while addressing the International Affordable, Green & Resilient Housing Conference on December 4 shed light on the critical challenges associated with the provision of affordable housing in Pakistan, including the need for sustainable financing mechanisms, regulatory reforms and other grievous concerns that have exacerbated housing shortages.
As he aptly noted, beyond the regulatory and financial aspects of cost-effective housing solutions — including issues related to mortgage finance, foreclosure laws and the role of regulators in not only ensuring that private sector low-cost housing finance is incentivised and effectively implemented but also two existential problems that have made the provision of affordable housing a tall order: the rapid population growth rate, currently at 2.55 percent per annum, and the escalating impacts of climate change.
The unsustainable trajectory of our population growth rate, especially, has multiple nefarious ramifications, posing significant challenges to ensuring economic stability, efficient resource allocation and the provision of essential services, which in turn further exacerbates issues like housing shortages and environmental degradation.
The fact of the matter is that housing, as a fundamental necessity, not only provides shelter but also serves as a cornerstone of socioeconomic stability, fostering health, security and a foundation for individuals and families to thrive. And the galloping population growth rate and the consequent lack of affordable housing, therefore, links directly to issues like poverty, and poor health and education outcomes.
The lack of affordable, good quality housing means that low-income families often find themselves living in overcrowded, substandard and unhygienic living environments, with poor sanitation and limited access to clean water. Added to this is the financial strain of high housing costs leaving little room for other necessities like nutritious food.
All these factors combine to result in poor health outcomes, including contributing to rampant malnutrition and child stunting, with around 40 percent of children under five suffering from this condition in Pakistan.
Additionally, with low-income families having been pushed into living in marginalised areas, their access to better job opportunities, education and health facilities also becomes restricted, thereby limiting their future prospects as well. Consequently, a vicious cycle that perpetuates poverty takes hold, as children growing up in substandard housing face significant barriers to breaking free from intergenerational disadvantage.
Compounding these difficulties is the critical challenge posed by climate change, which presents its own set of struggles in ensuring housing that’s both affordable and resistant to the vagaries of extreme weather conditions.
While the finance minister termed the disastrous 2022 floods – which resulted in thousands of deaths and trillions in economic losses — a “wake-up call”, emphasising that such calamities should prompt a rethinking of how we conduct rehabilitation and reconstruction work, the truth is that we should already have been well on our way towards reorganising the entire paradigm of the housing sector and disaster preparedness initiatives.
Not only is there a need to shift towards more resilient and environment-friendly housing, it is also essential to upgrade the quality of associated infrastructure, like drainage systems, embankments, roads, flood barriers, storm-water management infrastructure and water supply systems.
Although the finance minister highlighted the key role the private sector must play in the housing sector, addressing the climate change aspect here requires that federal and provincial governments don’t shirk from their obligations, as they are responsible for much of the essential allied infrastructure needed to ensure a resilient housing stock.
To address the challenges ahead, it is clear that we need a renewed focus on reducing our out-of-control population growth rate, which places immense strain on resources and infrastructure. Simultaneously, a reimagined approach to housing must be adopted, one that prioritises affordability, resilience and sustainability, and is designed to withstand the pressures of a huge population and the intensifying effects of climate change.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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