CHENNAI: The government lands locked up in slum tenements and vacant temple lands held by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department should be unlocked to provide affordable housing in Chennai for both rentals and ownership, according to a Chennai-based urban policy think-tank.

The  Mylapore Institute for Policy Research (MIPR), which is submitting its report to the State government, said that rental homes developed for economic weaker sections at temple lands would help garner revenue for maintenance of the temple.

“Under the proposed model, ownership of underlying land does not change at all with landlord enjoying rental income on housing stock created,” said the MIPR,  which conducted an analysis of vacant temple land on Greenways Road.

“Since the landlord will be earning an economic return on a sustained basis,  it is proposed that he will fund 50pc of construction costs and registration charges while the remaining 50pc will come from Corporates under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contributions,” the MIPR said.
Interestingly,  the MIPR, which has suggested FSI limit should be increased from 1.5 to 3,....Read more

Source web page:New Indian Express