EWS – The buzz word
EWS (Economically weaker section)– We can hear this in every builder office as it is the only segment which is having a market today. With the selling coming to an all-time low for about 5 years now, the stocks in the city has increased multiple folds. Builders are hesitant to start new projects for 2 reasons – 1. Having huge stocks of projects in various phases 2. Cash flow crunch.
On the contrary there are a huge population that has settled in and around the city in a hope to survive. These people need permanent homes to stay. Hence the affordable segment. The Pradhan mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) – Housing for all is a big boon to these people whose dream is to own a house.
Now say if a person is earning about Rs.20,000/- which is supposed to be a good salary, Can he buy a home for his family to live? He is eligible for a maximum loan of 10 lakhs. Can he even dream of a house in city or the suburbs? So it is this segment which will be benefitted from PMAY scheme. Atleast they can now search for a house with 15 Lakh budget – the EWS.
How to go about the design of EWS?
From design perspective we need to focus on giving the basic functionality required in a house but within the stipulated space which is available. If we have to give a house at 15 Lakh then the size has to be the bare minimum and a minimum land cost.
Even before we start the design, the sizes are fixed. Let us list the rooms and the sizes first.
- Hall ( 18’ x 10’ ) – 180 Sft
- Kitchen ( 8’ x 7’ ) – 56 Sft
- Bed room 1 ( 10’ x 9 ) – 90 Sft
- Bedroom 2 ( 9’ x 9’ ) – 81 Sft
- Toilet ( 7’ x 4’ ) – 24 Sft
- Balcony ( 5’ x 3’ ) – 15 Sft
The total comes to 446 Sft. When you add the wall thickness and common area as 25% then the saleable area will be approximately 525 Sft.
If Rs.2000/- per Sft as construction cost then the budget required would be 10L for 525 Sft. So land cost has to be below 3 Lakh to 3.5 Lakh. Only then Afforadable house is possible.
With size constraint and Vaasthu constraint we arrive at a scheme as follows for afforadable house.
