Deepak Parekh, chairman of HDFC, the company credited with setting up the housing finance market in India from the scratch, feels that in its present form, affordable housing is a `misnomer'.

In a letter to HDFC shareholders, Parekh said that although developers are now reintroducing one-bedroom apartments and, in the current falling interest rate scenario, buyers are making a comeback, the real issues are not being addressed.

'Affordable housing is not about box-sized, budget homes in far-flung places where there is no connectivity to work places and little surrounding infrastructure,' Parekh wrote. 'Affordable housing has to be able to cut across all income segments and has to make economic sense in terms of proximity to work place. The agenda for affordable housing requires a combined public-private collaboration and a strong political will to enforce change,' Parekh added.

Times of India