Inflation, interest-rate hikes could blow away much of India’s dream of an affordable house

Deepti (name-changed) has been working as a house help for 20 years. She is married with two children, one of whom is pursuing a degree in commerce while the other is studying for his standard 10 board exams. She and her husband together earn around INR27,000 a month, sometimes less, depending on the churn in the number of jobs Deepti does every month. Ever since the pandemic, Deepti wanted to purchase a house and the only option she found was