Newcomer housing

The Housing Board is struggling to find accommodation for those without funds, as it can on average only allocate five pro bono houses each year. Many Newcomers and young Aurovilians do not have the funds to make a donation for a house. They are moving from one house-sitting to another or are occupying a Newcomer`s house for a much longer period than initially agreed upon. Thanks to the new Maitreye housing project the number of Newcomer units has increased from 56 to 83. But due to the shortage of new houses and for economic reasons, 50 units are occupied by Aurovilians in need of a house, and only 33 units are used by Newcomers. 147 members are staying in these Newcomer houses, 103 Aurovilians, 12 non-Aurovilian spouses, and only 32 Newcomers.

The Housing Board hopes that in the next years some alleviation will be brought through the building of 12 temporary houses at Pony Farm and the completion of projects that have started, such as the Sunship Housing project, which will have a number of pro bono houses; the Kalpana Housing project of 40 apartments of which 12 apartments will be made available with subsidy of 40 %; and the Humanscape project which will offer about 20 pro bono apartments to youth in its first phase.

Taking all ongoing construction projects into account, the number of new houses and apartments will increase by 307 in the next three to four years. This would provide proper housing for approximately 750 Aurovilians and Newcomers.