Nearly 46% of 9.69 lakh houses constructed for the urban poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are vacant, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs told the Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs on Tuesday, reported The Print.

The ministry said “incomplete infrastructure, non-allotment of houses, and unwillingness of allottees” were the main reasons behind the large-scale vacancy of completed houses.

The committee, chaired by Telugu Desam Party MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, responded that “unoccupancy of completed houses for whatsoever reason will defeat the very purpose of the Mission”.

The housing scheme was launched in 2015 with the mission of providing housing for all in urban areas by 2022. It was extended by two years, till December 31, to facilitate the completion of 122.69 lakh houses, according to The Indian Express.

The scheme consists of four main verticals. The first is beneficiary-led construction targeted at those who already have land or a home that needs to be upgraded.

The second is in-situ slum redevelopment, which ropes in private parties to redevelop slums. Under this vertical, the lands on which the slums are built are treated as a resource.

Under the third vertical, the government incentivises builders to develop affordable housing by providing subsidies for projects where at least 35% of the houses are reserved for the economically weaker sections of society.

The fourth is a scheme that provides interest subsidies on home loans to increase credit access for the urban poor.

In total, 118 lakh houses have been sanctioned under the scheme across the country since 2015, including 17.5 lakh houses sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

The 17.5 lakh houses comprise 15.65 lakh under the affordable housing scheme in private partnership (for the economically weaker sections) and another 1.84 lakh under the in-situ slum redevelopment vertical.

Of these, however, only around 9.69 lakh houses have been completed, of which 4.59 lakh of these completed houses are vacant.

The Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs told the housing ministry that it should consider increasing the financial support provided under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana due to increasing construction and land costs.

The ministry, meanwhile, told the committee that it launched a second phase of the scheme in September, with the aim of providing homes to one crore additional urban poor and middle-class families over five years.