Now facing a different situation

According to the survey conducted in 1984, however, institutional finance was not an important source of housing finance in Kerala.  In 1984, this source of finance accounted for a mere 19.06 percent of the total cost of housing availed by the homeowners in the formal housing sector in the state. 
 
The role of specialized housing finance institutions was even more limited – financing an insignificant proportion of 1.61 per cent of the total cost of housing.  Approximately 60 percent of the cost of housing was financed from the house builder’s own resources like cash, bank deposits, savings etc.
 
Building a Home in Kerala is not an easy proposition in modern times.  A small house now costs upwards of more than 10 lakh rupees with the minimum of amenities.  The cost of practically each and every aspect has gone up several fold.  While the cost of land has nearly tripled, the cost of building materials has more than doubled.  Coupled with this is the cost of construction labor.  The severe scarcity of construction labor has resulted in a steep hike in labor charges and a skilled worker now earns more that that earned by a government employee who joins the government service afresh.
 
The scarcity of high quality construction materials like sand, bricks and steel has cast a shadow on the quality of the final product.  Thus to overcome this problem, the only way out is to use the building materials being sold by established construction material dealers at higher costs.  In some instances even when a customer was willing to pay higher charges, the quality materials were in short supply.  If house construction continues at such a pace the scarcity is likely to continue further.