Maharashtra Launches Portal to Streamline Rental Housing Market

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government, through the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada), is set to launch a portal dedicated to rental housing in the state. Currently, the government is finalizing the Rental Housing Act and Policy and has appointed Mhada as the nodal agency to implement the scheme.

With rising urbanization, escalating property prices, and changing socio-economic dynamics, a noticeable shift is emerging in Indian housing patterns—renting is being increasingly preferred over ownership, especially among students, migrant workers, and young professionals. To cater to this demand, the government plans to develop a structured rental housing ecosystem that will provide end-to-end solutions for renting homes, including agreements, payments, and more.

Through the portal, likely to be called the Maharashtra State Rental Housing Portal, citizens, government stakeholders, developers, and private companies will be able to facilitate the leasing of homes. Mhada, other government agencies, private developers, and individual private homeowners will be able to list their properties on this platform.

The key objectives of the proposed portal include: - Access to verified rental housing for diverse user groups - Digitization of rental housing management for government departments - Transparency in rental agreements and grievance redressal - eKYC and police verification - Online payments

In the initial phase, rental housing services will be launched in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Subsequent phases will cover Pune, Sambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad), Nagpur, Nashik, Amravati, and additional districts identified by MHADA.

Due to redevelopment projects and increasing population inflow to MMR, approximately 100,000 new rental units are estimated to be required for incoming residents, along with 35,000 units for temporary rehabilitation of individuals affected by redevelopment. It is estimated that there will be a demand for an extra 150,000 rental units in 2026 alone, over and above the existing stock of 1.5 million rental households in MMR. Based on current trends, active listings of 20,000 to 30,000 new rental units are expected in the first year, which could go up to 300,000 over the next few years.

Sanjeev Jaiswal, vice-president and CEO of Mhada, said that the portal would display individual property listings, institutional building listings, and verified property consultants and property operators. A dedicated landlord verification feature and a virtual tour of the listed properties have also been planned.

Mhada’s target audience is wide-ranging, from students, senior citizens, and single women to migrant workers, the homeless, project-affected people, disaster-affected families, and every income group. Right now, apart from flats, the state is open to listing multi-family apartments, dormitories, shared accommodations, and hostels.

The website is likely to be launched in mid-2026. It is expected to attract around 8,000 daily visitors in its maiden year, going up to 100,000 over the next few years.