Housing Insecurity among Renters in Slums: A Study from Noida City, India

Johny K D, IIT Kanpur
Esha Chatterjee, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Increasing population in slums reflects the lack of affordable housing in cities of the global south. In comparison to ‘informal’ house owners, renters are no longer a minority category in slums. Slum Rehabilitation Schemes (SRS) that are supposed to provide alternate better-quality housing to slum dwellers, do not talk about renters. This is the first study in the Indian context on housing insecurity amongst renters in slums. The present study tries to understand housing insecurity amongst slum dwellers in Noida by examining their present living conditions and also tries to understand the potential impacts of the SRS on the livelihoods of these respondents. We conducted 40 semi-structured interviews with respondents living on rent in the slums of Noida city. Results bring out the precarious lives of renters in slums. Informal contracts exist between the owners and renters which add to the uncertainties in the daily lived experiences of renters in slums. Slum dwellers perceive that SRS is likely to worsen their conditions by displacing them and forcing them to return to native villages which can cause subsequent downward social mobility. This study highlights the need for the government, local political groups, and civil society to consider the needs of renters while designing SRS.

Keywords: Internal Migration and Urbanization, Population Policies, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Spatial Demography

See extended abstract.