A priority country, Reall has been operating in India since 1992 and undertaking a more commercial approach in the region since 2000.

In 2012, the Indian government estimated a housing shortage of more than 19 million homes, of which 95% were in the low-income category. Further to this, the country’s total urban housing shortage is projected to be about 30 million by 2022. This escalating gap between demand and supply in the affordable housing segment forces people to live in slums and informal settlements.

SPARC Samudaya Nirman Sahayak (SSNS) is Reall’s longest-standing housing partner, with collaboration dating back to 2002, and resulting in the completion of almost 7,000 homes. SSNS is a not-for-profit company set up in 1998 as the construction arm of NGO, SPARC. Reall has provided funds to enable SSNS to utilise various government schemes to subsidise housing projects or recoup costs from the sale of Transferable Development Rights. A key aim of this work is to demonstrate to other developers that affordable housing projects can be commercially viable.

Syntellect, a technology platform focused on improving access to finance for low-income groups, and Jaanadhar, a commercial low-income housing developer, were welcomed as new Reall partners in 2019. This will drive forward Reall’s work on unlocking housing finance for low-income households and scale our housing delivery, providing further evidence of the commercial viability of affordable housing with which to influence investors and other stakeholders.