Mumbai’s housing authority has moved to monetise a small but geographically diverse set of residential units by offering 120 flats across the city under a first-come-first-served (FCFS) mechanism, reflecting both the price spread within public housing and the challenges of clearing legacy inventory.
The flats, distributed across locations ranging from South Mumbai to the eastern and western suburbs, were earlier offered through lottery-based allotments but remained unsold. Their reintroduction through a non-lottery route indicates a tactical shift by the authority to improve absorption and unlock stalled stock without waiting for a full-scale housing draw. The price spectrum of the available homes is unusually wide for a single public housing offering. At the upper end, a premium apartment in South Mumbai is priced at over Rs 8 crore, while the most affordable unit is available at under Rs 40 lakh. This range highlights the dual role MHADA increasingly plays as both an affordable housing provider and a seller of high-value urban assets in prime locations. Urban housing experts note that FCFS schemes tend to attract a different buyer profile compared to traditional lotteries. While lotteries emphasise equity and access, FCFS formats reward speed, financial readiness and digital familiarity. This makes such schemes more suitable for clearing limited numbers of ready-to-move or near-complete units rather than mass affordable housing supply.
The current offering spans several established neighbourhoods including parts of South Mumbai, central locations and suburban clusters. Many of these areas are already well-served by transport links and social infrastructure, making the units attractive to end-users seeking immediate possession rather than speculative investors. From a policy standpoint, the move also reflects MHADA’s effort to rationalise its housing pipeline ahead of larger planned launches. Officials have indicated that a significantly bigger affordable housing release is expected later, potentially involving several thousand homes across income categories. Clearing unsold inventory before that phase helps reduce administrative complexity and financial drag. The FCFS structure imposes strict timelines on buyers, including rapid payment milestones after flat selection. While this reduces speculative blocking of units, it also means the scheme is accessible primarily to households with liquidity or pre-approved home loans in place. As a result, the uptake may skew toward middle- and higher-income segments, even when some lower-priced homes are available. Housing economists point out that the presence of high-value units in public authority portfolios raises broader questions about land allocation and cross-subsidisation. Revenue from premium sales is often used to fund affordable housing construction elsewhere, but transparency and execution remain key to maintaining public trust.
Looking ahead, the authority is expected to return to lottery-based allocations for its upcoming affordable housing projects, particularly in suburban growth corridors. In that context, the current FCFS sale appears less like a policy shift and more like a housekeeping exercise one that offers a snapshot of Mumbai’s uneven housing economics, where public-sector homes can range from entry-level apartments to multi-crore urban assets.
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FCFS Housing Sale Reveals Price Diversity in MHADA Supply
