K-Homes remains a non-starter despite being in demand
Avinash Nair, a private company employee in Ahmedabad, has been anxiously waiting for the roll-out of the K-Homes project announced in the last Budget by the State government. A native of Malayalapuzha, he has an unoccupied property near the Malayalapuzha Devi temple in Pathanamthitta, a district home to many famed temples.
K-Homes envisages renting out unoccupied houses in tourist destinations in Kerala to tourists as holiday homes. The project seeks to develop basic tourism infrastructure by maximising the utility of unoccupied homes. In the initial phase, it was planned to be implemented within 10 km of tourism destinations such as Fort Kochi, Kumarakom, Kovalam, and Munnar.
11.89 lakh vacant houses
However, around six months after the project was announced, not a single house has been rented out. Kerala has around 11.89 lakh vacant houses as per the 2011 Census data (an estimated 15 lakh-odd houses now). As per the initial proposal, the project offers revenue to the house owners and ensures the maintenance and safety of such houses.
Pathanamthitta has the highest concentration of premium unoccupied houses and villas in the State. 'My property has been lying vacant for the past few years, especially after the COVID-19 outbreak, as my parents shifted to the my sister's house in Kochi. I was not interested in renting out the property, considering the risks involved. Hence I decided to make the property available for holidaymakers,' said Mr. Nair.
Kerala Tourism sources told The Hindu said a meeting was convened by the department recently as part of drafting the project guidelines. Soon, another round of meeting will be convened inviting suggestions from stakeholders. The Budget had earmarked ₹5 crore for the initial project expenses.
Dearth of quality rooms
Though Kerala has the highest number of star hotels in the country, it has a dearth of quality rooms to meet the needs of budget and luxury class tourists. The prime requirement for attracting foreign tourists is the availability of quality hotel rooms. Although the project had irked a section of the hospitality sector, especially homestay owners, who were against providing budgetary support to unoccupied houses since most such dwellings are owned by wealthy non-resident Indians, the tourism sector as a whole was in favour of the project, considering the high number of unoccupied houses in the State.
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