Talk to anyone in Kashmir today and the conversation drifts toward cement. Someone's cousin has poured a new roof. An aunt is adding a second floor. A neighbour's marble gate went up last week.

Building a home feels like a milestone. It tells you that your children will have a safe place and that the difficult years have not dimmed your dreams.

But step inside many of these fresh-painted homes and you sense worry in the air.

The walls stand firm, but the family is still trying to pay the mason. Bank loans are out of reach for many. Land papers are unclear, incomes change from day to day and property cases move slowly.

When the bank turns them away, people walk to lenders in back alleys who offer cash at 24 or even 36 percent interest with no questions asked.

So a staircase goes up and then stays unfinished.

A gate is installed, while the rooms behind it remain bare. Prices of bricks, timber and sand jump each spring. Winter stops work for months.

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