A/HRC/34/51/Add.1 forced evictions and enforced migration, safeguarding land and community resources in scheduled areas and addressing land acquisition, including by private companies. 41 53. As it stands, there is no national policy for rural areas beyond policies pertaining to construction incentives and grants. Considering that the majority of the over 780 million rural inhabitants are landless, there is an urgent need to address their housing situation in a more comprehensive way, acknowledging that a plot of land, even one as small as 0.1 acres, can play a crucial role in ensuring both access to adequate housing and to a livelihood. E. Land speculation and real estate investment 54. Land acquisition for large-scale development projects, particularly in rural areas, has resulted in widespread displacement leading to inadequate housing conditions and homelessness. Real estate development, cranes and skyscrapers dotting the horizon, and billboards for new and luxurious accommodation are very much part of urban life in India. 55. The Special Rapporteur learned that housing values have significantly increased in some regions,42 while in other regions the market has been stagnant. Moreover, according to the 2011 census, in many cities new housing remains unsold and vacant, with 8 per cent of houses in urban India (approximately 11.09 million) lying vacant. 43 Some suggest that is because the number of new units at the high end of the market has exceeded the number of people that can afford them. 56. To help stimulate the real estate market, protect home buyers and provide greater transparency and stability within the housing market, India passed the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. Overall, the Act is perceived as well-intentioned and timely. It establishes a regulatory body and a tribunal to hear disputes, and appears to protect home buyers in a number of ways, including by ensuring that written agreements are part of every transaction and that buyers can withdraw from projects without pecuniary penalties if they are unable to take possession of the unit by the specified date. The Act also limits the amount of cash that can be used to purchase property, requiring cheques for the bulk of payments, allegedly to prevent black market purchases and unregistered foreign investment. F. Open defecation 57. According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, one of the characteristics that is central to the concept of adequacy with respect to the right to housing is the availability of services, facilities and infrastructure. 44 Hence, an adequate house must contain, inter alia, sanitation and washing facilities. India has made significant progress in terms of sanitation coverage in the past 25 years, 45 but challenges remain, particularly 41 42 43 44 45 14 The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, The Indigenous World, 2015 (Copenhagen, The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, 2015), pp. 331-332. The National Housing Bank Index (Residex) indicates that between 2007 and 2015, housing prices more than doubled in Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Faridabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune; in Chennai, prices more than tripled during that period. See http://censusindia.gov.in/default.aspx. See the Committee’s general comment No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing, para. 8 (b). UNICEF and WHO, “Progress on sanitation and drinking water: 2015 update and MDG assessment”, June 2015. Available from http://files.unicef.org/publications/files/Progress_on_Sanitation_ and_Drinking_Water_2015_Update_.pdf.