The Ministry was constituted on 13th May 1952 when it was known as the Ministry of Works, Housing & Supply. Subsequently, it was renamed as Ministry of Works & Housing when a separate Ministry of Supply came up. The name of the Ministry was changed to Ministry of Urban Development in September 1985 in recognition of the importance of urban issues. With the creation of a separate Department of Urban Employment & Poverty Alleviation on 8th March 1995, the Ministry came to be known as the Ministry of Urban Affairs & Employment. The Ministry had two Departments: the Department of Urban Development & the Department of Urban Employment & Poverty Alleviation.
The two Departments were again merged on 9th April 1999 and in consequence thereto, the name was restored to "The Ministry of Urban Development." This Ministry was bifurcated into two Ministries viz.
These two Ministries were again merged into one Ministry on 27.5.2000 and named as "Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation" with two Departments;
From 27- 5- 2004, the Ministry has again been bifurcated into two Ministries viz:
The Ministry of Urban Employment & Poverty Alleviation was subsequently named as Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation vide Doc. CD-299/2006 dated 1/6/2006.