This story originally appeared in our December 31, 2010 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Aden Van Noppen, on behalf of micro Home Solutions, spoke to Beyond Profit about an innovative home improvement product in India.

Aden Van Noppen (AVN) works on Strategic Planning and Partnership Management at mHS.

Tell us about your organization.

AVN: micro Home Solutions (mHS) is a for-profit social enterprise that creates solutions for the 40 million people without access to adequate housing in India. mHS was founded in 2009 by Rakhi Mehra and Marco Ferrarioas an interdisciplinary social enterprise that links architectural, financial and social approaches to offer a portfolio of affordable housing options to the urban poor. » Continue reading “Talk About Homes”

Many Indian cities today are facing trouble accommodating the continuously expanding urban poor population due to the constant inflows of rural migrants. India is home to 52,000 slums with 8 million households and many millions more living on the streets. To find housing solutions for this low-income population has long been part of the country’s national agenda. However, nation-wide efforts to provide affordable housing to the urban poor may be missing the real need of the urban low-income population.

In 2009, the government announced the Rajiv Awas Yojana, a housing scheme that accords property rights to the urban low-income population and slum dwellers. It will allow them to construct and own homes, with the lofty aim to eliminate slums from Indian cities in five years.

» Continue reading “To Rent or Buy – The Housing Ownership Myth”