1. INDIA
HOUSING FOR ALL
Background & oBjectives
• Housing Model: New In India there is a need for an estimated 21 million affordable homes- translating
Homes into a US$244 billion annual housing market opportunity. Currently more than
66% of the Indian labor force is composed of informal sector workers and micro-
• director: Vishnu entrepreneurs who earn an annual household income of US$ 2,000-4,000. Since the
Swaminathan majority of Indian workers do not have access to regular income, financing or tax
receipts, they are often excluded from conventional and affordable buying options-
• Program Launch: which prevent them from owning a home of their dreams. In response, Housing
September 2008 for All (HFA) India is pioneering a new way to foster collaboration at large scale
between mortgage financers, developers, citizen sector and informal sector clients.
• number of Partners:
- Citizen Sector: 5
- Business Sector: 11 core activities
HFA India is currently leading four market-based models that provide home
improvement and new homes services at quality and affordable prices. To better
foster affordable home projects, HFA India has conducted a consumer-based study
to thoroughly understand India’s housing landscape in terms of demand and
consumer behavior patterns. To date, more than 5,000 households throughout
HOUSING FOR ALL
5 cities have participated in the study- with a projected 5,000 more targeted to
participate by 2011. HFA India is enabling key private sector groups to leverage
the citizen sector’s role for serving as demand aggregators, design and developer
partners.
In addition, to brokering partnerships in the field, Ashoka HFA India is currently
developing a web-based platform to connect various stakeholders. This interactive
virtual tool will allow the citizen sector partners, developers, housing finance
companies, investors and beneficiaries to access one another for more efficient and
effective collaborations

2. INDIA
tuLsi lives in a slum in the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Her 144 sq ft house
does not have any individual water connection or toilet. She and her husband sell
vegetables on a push cart and make an estimated USD$150 per month. She has
two children and the family also makes and sells kites during festive seasons. She
can afford a monthly housing installment of USD$80 for a new house. Through
the Ashoka DBS Umang project she has booked an apartment with 220 sq ft.
Her loan is currently being processed and she cannot wait to move to the new
apartment. Her dream will finally become true!
ASHOkA’S MAIN PARTNERS AND THEIR
ROLE IN THE HOUSING FOR ALL HyBRID
IMPACT VALUE CHAIN APPLICATION
5 citizen sector
organizations and 11 Hybrid Value Chain (HVC) is a new operating framework for transforming
businesses have joined markets by leveraging the strengths of business and social actors. HVC spread
the HFA India initiative as across the economic spectrum and represent a systemic change in the way
partners business and citizen sector interact.
1,800 new homes
purchased by low income
families during the first 9
months of 2010
By 2014 an estimated
500,000 families will have
been impacted
affordable Housing will Business sector citiZen sector
be creating a usd$270 Housing related Products, aggregators &
billion market, generating Builders & technical assistance complementary
employment opportunities • Affordable Home Strategy Limited services
both directly and indirectly • Vintron Infrastructure • Self Employed
Women Organization
by providing complimentary & Project Pvt. Ltd
services for construction. • DivyaSree Group • SAATH
Today, approximately 40% • Santosh Associates
of India’s workforce is
Finance Providers
directly employed in the
HOUSING FOR ALL
construction business; this MicroHousing Finance
figure is likely to go up corporation Limited
with the spurt in affordable • Mahindra Finance
housing activity. • Gruh Finance Limited
• Dewan Housing Finance Corporation
The living conditions of slum dwellers in Ahmedabad, India, have changed with new
infrastructure projects, opportunities for employment and more social empowerment.
Ultimately this has improved people’s health, and reduced their expenditure on
medicines. This is how a social determinants of health approach works in action.”
Bijal Bhatt from Mahila Housing SEWA Trust
fec.ashoka.org