Transgender persons face multiple barriers and challenges in accessing housing, depending on the intersecting axes of caste, economic status, religion, geography profession, education level, age, disability, and, assimilability, among others. Delhi-based Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) embarked upon a pilot study, in 2023, of transgender persons living in shelters and in homelessness. The purpose was to gain an understanding of the specific challenges that transgender persons deal with access to housing.

The report, A Place to Call Home: Access to Housing for Trans Persons in India, published in November 2024, combines the findings from the interviews with a comprehensive analysis of laws and policies that govern this access, examining the access to housing for transgender persons in India, particularly, for those from low and middle income groups in urban areas, to understand the adequacy of the existing legal and policy framework governing housing for trans persons, to identify the barriers that prevent them from availing safe and secure housing options, and to suggest measures to ensure the full implementation of their right to adequate housing. 

The report also makes recommendations, drawing upon suggestions received from the interviewees, and the challenges identified in the course of the study. Some of them are providing transgender persons with ownership of housing, subsidised or low-cost housing, ensure that any new project or scheme to provide housing to trans persons does not perpetuate further socio-spatial segregation, implementing and increasing units under the Garima Gruh scheme while avoiding a paternalistic approach, security in terms of basic amenities, documentation, and legislations and security of tenure.

The report can be found here.