Plunge in Affordable Housing Supply Raises Alarms

A report by NAREDCO and Knight Frank highlights a significant drop in new affordable housing supply across eight major Indian cities in early 2025. This decrease poses a challenge against a growing demand, indicating a need for reforms to boost private investment and address supply constraints.

New data reveals a startling drop in affordable housing supply across eight major Indian cities during the first half of 2025, according to a report by NAREDCO and Knight Frank. The decrease now stands at nearly one-third of low-cost housing sales, highlighting significant supply-side challenges.

The report, unveiled at a recent conference, points out critical inadequacies in supplying affordable housing to meet demand. The ratio of launches to sales has fallen dramatically to 0.36 in 2025, down from 1.05 in 2019 and 1.30 in 2020, across key cities including Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai, among others.

NAREDCO President G Hari Babu calls attention to the widening gap due to limited private investment, suggesting bold reforms like unlocking land and subsidized finance to bridge the 9.4 million unit deficit expected to grow by 2030. Knight Frank India's Shishir Baijal emphasized the need for private sector involvement to tackle these barriers.