Published: 12:00 AM, 07 October 2026
A Roof Is Not Enough for Bangladesh’s Housing Crisis
Radifa Akter Ripa
Bangladesh is building faster than it is housing its people. Dhaka is growing higher with more high-rise buildings going up every day. At the time rural migrants are coming to the city in search of work. Land prices keep rising. Still millions of people cannot find an affordable and properly serviced home.
The numbers show how serious the problem really is. The Asian Development Bank says there is currently a shortage of six million urban homes. By 2030 that number could grow to 10.5 million. 70 Percent of the need is for affordable housing. Each year only around 31,500 new units are built. That is one percent of what is needed. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) says the government only meets seven percent of the yearly housing demand. That means the private sector and informal markets must carry most of the burden.
This is not a lack of apartments. It is a failure in housing policy. Policy must link land use, finance, infrastructure, planning and social protection. Without this connection even if houses are built, they do not meet needs.
Bangladesh has said housing is a responsibility of the state. Article 15 of the Constitution guarantees shelter as a right. National housing policies and five-year plans have also called for housing and better conditions in informal settlements. Yet these plans are not being carried out well. Different agencies. Body, planning offices, local governments, utilities and private developers. All work separately. This makes it hard to deliver housing as a coordinated service.
The market has not fixed the issue either. As the government relies more on developers housing construction, it focuses on those who can afford to buy. Lower-income workers, people in the sector and even many middle-class families cannot get land or access formal mortgages. A housing system cannot be fair when the people who need homes most are the ones who struggle to enter it.
Dhaka shows what happens when housing fails. The UNDP found that least one third of Dhaka residents lived in informal settlements during the period studied. These areas may be close to jobs. They come with insecure rights to the land. They are often overcrowded and lack water, toilets, drainage and waste disposal. The World Bank has also said that affordable mortgage finance remains out of reach for low- and middle-income households.
Safety issues are just as pressing. A 2016 government assessment, cited in a study, said over 72,000 buildings in Dhaka were earthquake prone. That number is old so it should not be used as the status. It does show that enforcement of building codes has long been weak. Recent research by RAJUK and BUET shows that 55 to 60 percent of Dhaka lies in areas where soil liquefaction can happen during earthquakes. So, housing policy must include fire safety, drainage, soil testing and disaster resilience.
The Ashrayan Project gives another lesson. This state-led program was meant to give land and homes to landless families. It has helped people. Problems at individual sites have shown the risk of treating housing as just a construction goal. When projects are measured by how many houses built long-term needs are ignored.
In 2021 The Daily Star reported that five government officials were made Officers on Special Duty after accusations of mismanagement and negligence in construction. The project director’s office said poor quality work had been found in 36 locations across 22 districts. Reports showed cracked walls in Feni collapsed verandas in Jhalakathi damaged homes in Shariatpur and erosion risks in Munshiganj. In some areas residents did not have electricity, drinking water, toilets or roads. In Brahmanbaria in 2022 construction of 88 houses stopped because materials were poor and designs were not followed.
These were not technical errors. They revealed problems: bad site selection, poor coordination between agencies and no accountability. Building homes in flood-prone erosion-risk or unstable places turns a welfare effort into a source of future hardship. Ain of Salish Kendra raised concerns too after Ashrayan homes in Khulna’s Dumuria were damaged due to government river-re-excavation projects. This shows how one development action can hurt another when agencies do not talk to each other.
Another forgotten idea is isolation. A house with jobs, schools, hospitals and transport might be livable but it is not sustainable. Resettlement experiences show that people need livelihoods and services not just keys to a house. The Khurushkul project in Cox’s Bazar has also faced water problems because of its coastal location.
The answer is not policy papers. Bangladesh needs a way to deliver housing.
First government-owned khas land should be identified for housing. This land must be protected by rules that keep prices low and ensure affordability.
Second large private housing developments should follow a model. Developers should reserve a portion— 15 to 20 percent—of units for affordable housing. In return they could get floor area or tax benefits.
Third, housing finance must adapt to incomes. Microfinance institutions can offer savings-linked loans. They can also provide credit to workers who don’t qualify for traditional mortgages.
Fourth Bangladesh should expand subsidized rental housing. Ownership is not the path to security. Secure affordable rentals can be more realistic for workers and low-income families.
Finally, approvals should be extended to a one-stop system. This system would combine planning, utility and safety checks. It would also strengthen inspections. Reduce delays.
The DAP 2022–2035 offers a chance to connect density and vertical growth with transport, water, sewerage, waste management, schools and open spaces. Higher floor-area ratios can increase supply. Without infrastructure and affordability controls more density just leads to more expensive buildings.
Bangladesh does not have to choose between growth and affordable housing. It must be seen that good housing helps both. Safe homes improve health and productivity. They create construction jobs. They support economies. They make better use of limited urban land.
The real test of housing policy is not how many buildings are finished. It is whether regular people can live in them safely, affordably and, with dignity. The roof is the start. The next phase of housing policy must build the community and infrastructure around it.
Radifa Akter Ripa studies
Law in Bangladesh University
of Professionals (BUP), Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka.
