Eye on regulation of student housing, Delhi Govt holds meet with PG owners

The consultation comes nearly three weeks after the first meeting of a 20-member High-Powered Committee on Student Accommodation and Safety, chaired by Sood.

As the Delhi government works on a regulatory framework for students’ housing accommodation in the Capital, Education Minister Ashish Sood on Monday held consultations with PG owners, operators and managers. Regulating private PGs, addressing safety concerns and expanding student housing have emerged as key components of the Delhi government’s proposed ‘Paying Guest Accommodation Regulation and Safety Bill, 2026’, officials said on Monday.

The law was proposed two days after a five-storey boys’ private PG building collapsed in Southwest Delhi’s Satya Niketan on September 6, killing seven people including five Delhi University students.

Mandatory registration, safety audits, standard rental agreements and mechanisms to check arbitrary charges are among the measures being considered as part of the proposed regulatory framework, officials said.

In a statement issued Monday, the government said the consultation with PG operators was aimed at understanding “operational perspectives” and addressing key challenges while prioritising student security and basic living standards. Officials said that the need to address the challenges arises owing to the large outstation student population in Delhi, as at least six lakh students come to the Capital annually for higher education.

“Following the recent unfortunate incident in Delhi, the process of regulating PGs and formulating new laws for them is ongoing. Under this initiative, a few days ago, I had engaged to understand the concerns of the students and residents living in PGs. Today, I met with PG operators, owners, and managers to understand their perspectives and stakes,” Sood said in the statement.

“Before drafting any new law, our government is engaging with everyone through stakeholder consultations. This is true participatory governance—the very model of participatory governance we are working on,” he claimed.

The consultation comes nearly three weeks after the first meeting of a 20-member High-Powered Committee on Student Accommodation and Safety, chaired by Sood. The committee was constituted to examine the shortage of student housing in Delhi, safety standards and regulation of student accommodation. It is responsible to draft new laws and regulations on PGs, officials said.

Story continues below this ad

At its September 15 meeting, the committee discussed mandatory registration and a central database for institutional and private PGs, regulation of lease agreements, curbing arbitrary electricity surcharges and introducing zone-wise rent bands. It also proposed mandatory structural and fire-safety audits, emergency evacuation protocols and regular mock drills for PG operators and students.

A centralised digital grievance mechanism was also proposed, through which students would be able to report overcrowding, building safety hazards and lease violations for time-bound resolution.

The committee had decided to develop, within 15 days, a portal for PG owners to register their facilities and provide details such as the age and size of the building and fire-safety measures, officials said. A separate portal was proposed to map student data across universities and educational institutions in Delhi.

The committee, which has a 60-day deadline to submit its recommendations, also would examine the shortage of university hostels and the possibility of allowing higher floor area ratio for expansion of accommodation on campuses. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Urban Development Department have been tasked with identifying suitable land parcels for new hostels, while under-utilised government and DDA properties are also to be examined for possible conversion into student housing.

Story continues below this ad

Sood said the government’s aim was to ensure that students had access to safe and affordable accommodation. “Our concern is to ensure that people have access to safe, secure, reliable, and reasonably priced PG accommodations in Delhi,” he said.

“As part of that responsibility, today’s (Monday) discussions were held with the PG operators during this stakeholder consultation,” he said.