Pilot housing project: A case study of a housing project in thimphu for low income civil servants to promote home ownership
Student name: Mr Rinchen Wangdi
Guide: Dr Vinod Tewari
Year of completion: 2009
Host Organisation: National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC)
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Mr M.P. Nepal
Abstract: Bhutan is a landlocked country in the Eastern Himalayas, covering approximately 38,394 square kilometres of mostly mountainous terrain. Prior to the early 1960s, Bhutan was isolated from the rest of the world and its overwhelming rural population was entirely dependent on subsistence agriculture. With the quickening pace of development in the last 40 decades, however, Bhutan is already experiencing signs of urban growth pressures and housing shortages being one of them. Changjiji Housing Project, Pemaling Housing Project and District Housing Project are the three most recent public rental housing schemes initiated by the Government after the private sectors failed to meet the demand of housing shortages especially for the LMI group. However, Government had never ventured into the concept of promoting home-ownership by selling its publicly owned apartments until the Danish government agreed to fund the project on pilot basis through the Urban Sector Programme Support(USPS).
This case study is about the 32 units DANIDA funded Housing Project in Thimphu which was conceptualised to promote “Home Ownership†amongst the lowest income group of the civil servants in the year 2000. Firstly, this was the first project of its kind to be initiated by the Government targeting the lowest bracket of the civil servants for whom buying land and constructing houses in the capital city are just a dream. Secondly, this project was initiated to put into practise the newly approved National Housing Policy which also emphasize on the sale of publicly owned apartments to promote home ownership and finally it was aimed to experiment on the low cost housing schemes. While the housing units have been sold to the beneficiaries on hire and purchase basis, the land has been leased for 99 years period. The project was completed in December 2004 and has been handed over to the 32 fortunate owners since then.
This research is an attempt to assess the success of the project, document the project starting from inception to handing over of the units to the beneficiaries for future references, and identify the setbacks of the project and difficulties faced by the Government in implementing such project. The study is based on an extensive literature review of the project and on the fieldwork conducted in Thimphu during the period of September to November, 2008. A sample survey and interview was undertaken with the pilot project beneficiaries to find out their level of satisfaction from project. Similarly, government officials and decision makers from the housing development organizations were also interviewed concerning the policies and housing related issues of Thimphu.
Based on the evidence and information gathered during the field work and from the results obtained through the analysis of interviews and questionnaires, this study has been able to highlight some of the problems and difficulties being faced would encounter while implementing such project. The report then concludes with a set of recommendations for successful implementations of such projects in the future.
Key Word: Low Middle Income (LMI), Low Income Housing, Home-Ownership, Pilot Housing Project, Beneficiaries, Target Group, Owner Apartment, Affordability
