Soon after independence, various social housing schemes have been initiated under the framework of the national five-year plan programmes to speed up housing development. Varying degree of success has been made in its implementation. The experiences gained have brought out some of the severe limitations and shortcomings associated with these schemes.

The intention of this study is not to present an appraisal of the various urban housing schemes and related activities undertaken so far, largely at the instance of the government by the public as well as the private sector agencies. But the one fact, which comes to our notice, is that despite the efforts put together to tackle the urban housing problem in Trivandrum, the urban housing situation is further aggravating with each passing year.

It is necessary, therefore, to devise radical measures, strategies and policies that would tackle the backlog of urban housing in the shortest time possible and will also help to enhance the quality of life of the urban population in the capital city. The past experience suggests that as in all other walks of life, public-private cooperation in housing holds the key for ameliorating the urban housing situation in our country.

When considering the present trends in Real Estate Trivandrum city is witnessing developments unseen in earlier times. Perhaps at no point of time has such developments overtaken the city in such a short period of time. While it is becoming increasingly difficult for people with small and marginal incomes to buy land in the urban centers, the middle-income households find it difficult to expand their housing operations without help from the leading financing institutions. A drastic overhaul of the existing housing development policies is a must to effect a major change in the state of affairs


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