By 1997 the total housing shortages in the country was estimated to be 13.66 million units, out of which 7.57 million units would be in the urban areas. More than 90% of this shortage is for the poor and the low income category. It was estimated that an investment of Rs.1,51,000/- crores would be required to bridge this deficit, but not more than 25% of this will flow from banks, financial institutions, Central and State Governments. It was further estimated that Rs.2,50,000 crores shall be required for urban infrastructure during the Ninth Plan, but not more than 10% would be available from Government sources. Therefore no significant headway can be achieved without massive participation of the private sector. This called for creation of enabling environment by way of legal and regulatory reforms and fiscal concessions to encourage non-government sector to take up land assembly, housing construction and investment in infrastructure services.

The Government through a National Agenda declared HOUSING FOR ALL as a priority area and has set a target of construction of 2 million houses every year with emphasis on the poor and deprived, out of which 0.7 million houses shall be constructed in the urban areas.

With this background, the New National Housing and Habitat Policy (NHHP) was formulated in 1998. The Policy was laid before the Parliament on 29.07.1998.

The Housing and Habitat Policy 1998 aims at:

• Creation of surpluses in housing stock either on rental or ownership basis
• Providing quality and cost effective shelter options, especially to the vulnerable groups and the poor
• Ensuring that housing, along with the supporting services, is treated as a priority and at par with infrastructure sector
• Removing legal, financial and administrative barriers for facilitating access to land, finance and technology
• Forging strong partnership between private, public and cooperative sectors to enhance the capacity of the construction industry to participate in every sphere of housing and habitat
• Using technology for modernising the housing sector to increase efficiency, productivity, energy efficiency and quality
• Empowering the Panchayat Raj institutions and village cooperatives to mobilise credit for adding to the housing stock

The NHHP 1998 lays down the role of all the stakeholders for achieving the goal of providing shelter to all.

• take steps to bring in legal reforms including formulation of effective foreclosure laws.
• devise macro economic policies to enable flow of resources to the housing and infrastructure sector,
• develop a debt market for housing and infrastructure fully integrated with the financial markets in the country
  
• set up a National Shelter Fund to meet the requirement of low cost funds for the housing needs of the poor
  
• promote research and development and transfer of technology for construction of houses
• evolve parameters for optimal use of available resources to promote development and growth in a sustained manner
  
• provide fiscal concessions for housing, infrastructure, innovative and energy saving construction materials and methods and also set up a regulatory mechanism to ensure that the concessions are correctly targeted and utilised.
• develop and enforce appropriate ecological standards to protect the environment and provide a better quality of life in human settlements;
• promote the creation of a secondary mortgage market.

The State Governments would -

• liberalise the legal and regulatory regime to give a boost to housing and supporting infrastructure
• promote private sector and cooperatives in undertaking housing construction for all segments in urban and rural areas.
• undertake appropriate reforms for easy access to land
  
• facilitate training of construction workers by converging other development programmes through Building Centres and other agencies
• promote decentralised production and availability of building material
• empower the local bodies to discharge their responsibilities in regulatory and development functions.

• identify specific housing shortages and prepare District Housing Action Plans for rural areas
• devise programmes to meet housing shortages and augment supply of land for housing, particularly for the vulnerable group
• plan expansion of both urban and rural infrastructure services
• enforce effectively regulatory measures for planned development.

• redefine their role and move away from their traditional approach to housing finance.
• develop and expand their reach to meet the needs of people
• devise schemes to lend at affordable rates to those who are in dire need of housing finance support
• mobilise resources from provident funds, insurance funds, mutual funds etc. for house building activities.
• develop innovative instruments to mobilise domestic savings

Housing Boards/Corporations/Development Auithorities and other public agencies would -

• revamp their method of working and redefine their role for facilitating land assembly and development of infrastructure
• move away from direct construction activity
• forge partnerships with the private sector and cooperatives for housing construction in an efficient manner
• devise flexible schemes to meet the user's requirement

• take the lead role in land assembly, construction of houses and development of amenities
• forge partnership with State Governments and local authorities for construction of houses
• collaborate with the State Governments to work out schemes for slum reconstruction on cross subsidization basis

• direct research efforts to locally available raw materials
  
• reduce the use of scarce natural resources and replace them with renewable resources
• standardise the new technology for easy adoption by various public and private construction agencies
• promote energy efficiency in building materials and construction methods.
• promote use of renewable energy sources for the housing sector particularly, solar, bio-mass and waste based energy
  
• promote disaster mitigation techniques for new constructions as well as strengthening of existing houses to prevent continuing loss of housing stock and human lives from natural hazards like earthquakes, cyclones and floods
• disseminate information about new technologies and provide training to construction workers in the use of new technologies.