NEW DELHI (INDIA):Tata Trusts and Brick Eagle Foundation have joined hands to design a path-breaking Affordable Housing pilot project at Karjat, on the outskirts of Mumbai.
Tata Trusts has offered a grant to Brick Eagle Foundation for extensive research on customer needs, industry best practices and scalable and sustainable construction technologies.All of the above will culminate into construction of homes that are based on participatory designs.They will be aesthetic, locally relevant, scalable and commercially viable. The project is expected to be completed in two years.
Commenting on the initiative, Shikha Srivastava, Lead, Urban Poverty Alleviation and Livelihoods portfolio, Tata Trusts, said, “We are pleased to initiate this pilot project with Brick Eagle Foundation which will serve as a blueprint for designing affordable homes. This project will provide a critical perspective to understand the housing needs of the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Lower Income Group (LIG) population.”
Urban poverty manifests through inadequate provision of housing and shelter, water, sanitation, health, education, social security and livelihoods. Housing shortage is one of the acute issues with an estimated shortage of 20 million in the LIG/EWS segment in the country. However there has been scarce private sector investment in the Affordable Housing sector (sub 10 lakhs category) due to perceived high risk and low margins business.
Under the circumstances Tata Trusts are focusing to evolve a participatory model for Affordable Housing design and development in partnership with resource organisations and private developers. The collaboration with Brick Eagle Foundation is for a pilot to demonstrate a participatory model for Affordable Housing design and development. The pilot seeks to offer innovative housing solutions that will address the needs and aspirations of the community and improve quality of life
Expressing pleasure on the faith reposed by Tata Trusts, Kirti Timmanagoudar, founder of Brick Eagle Foundation said, “Our association with Tata Trusts began about a year ago. Tata Trusts’ focus on Habitat is a welcome move as it supports the government’s ‘Housing for All’ objective and will go a long way in alleviating Housing Poverty in India”.
She further added, “Brick Eagle Foundation will be led by Shivani Manaktala, Director, who brings 2 decades of experience in the social sector and has significant experience in commercially sustainable business models.”
While Brick Eagle Group serves the Lower Income Group segments through its commercial ventures, the Foundation is its non-profit division that works closely with the Economically Weaker Section segment.
As part of the ethnography study, a team of architects and sociologists from IdeinLab Architects and NGO partner SAATH Livelihoods are observing and capturing the lifestyle and behaviour pattern by spending time in homes of the EWS/LIG population and will in turn facilitate towards the ultimate objective of innovative designs for Affordable Housing.
Brick Eagle Foundation plans to use the findings and experience of this pilot project, to create scalable solutions for the EWS segment.Next steps would be partnering with private sector, government, academia, NGOs and social impact funds to bridge the massive housing gap for the socially and economically challenged.