Low cost housing

Reinhold, Robert. 1988. In San Diego, the Developers Profit as Homeless Get Low-Cost Housing. New York Times (September 18) A18. 

Products made in this way meet or exceed specifications for PC concrete blocks and in addition have a much higher resistance to corrosion than the PC products. The sulphur-based blocks and bricks should therefore find ready usage in walls, storage sheds, agricultural buildings, warehousing, floors and patios as well as for low cost housing in those countries which already use block construction extensively. 

In another application expanded polystyrene foam panels, 1.2 x 2.4 m, are faced with a wire mesh and mounted in a metal channel bolted to a concrete slab. These panels are then sprayed on both sides with plaster, which is anchored to the wire mesh and forms the interior and exterior surfaces. Roof and interior partitions provide low cost housing for mild climates. 

Jute and allied fibers have gained interest as a reinforcing material in the composite industry to produce new and alternate building materials for low cost housing applications [6-14]. The typical applications include building panels, roofing sheets, boards partitions, doors and windows, tiles, etc. Currently, the... 

M. Geeta, A.K. Mohanty, K. Thayer, M. Misra, and LT. Drzal, Novel biocomposites sheet molding compounds for low cost housing panel applications. J. Polym. Environ. 13, 169-175 (2005). 

Unskilled workmen using simple equipment may produce various structural elements for roofing of low-cost houses and building non-structural elements with concrete reinforced with natural fibres. 

Vegetable fibres are used mostly in developing subtropical and tropical countries in Africa and South-East Asia as reinforcement for concrete elements for housing. The application of cheap and locally available fibres may help considerably in the building of low-cost houses (Nilsson 1975). 

Over many years, ordinary, low-quality concrete will remain the main construction material for low cost houses in developing countries. The... 

The problems related to safe and durable roofs for low cost houses are usually more difficult than those for walls and other elements of the house. For that reason, various kinds of low-cost fibre reinforcement are used in regions where cellulose pulp (in Nordic countries) and natural vegetal fibres (in tropical and subtropical countries) are available (cf. Section 5.7). 

There were additional options in urban areas of buying a low-cost house, renting public housing, or receiving a cash subsidy. 

Apart from houses that had collapsed or had sustained no damage, categories would receive a cash subsidy of 1,000-2,000 ( 163- 325), 2,000-4,000 ( 325- 650), or 4,000-5,000 ( 650- 813) RMD ( USD), respectively. Urban households whose houses had collapsed or were inhabitable could receive a cash subsidy, a housing tax exemption or reduction, and preferential low-cost housing. The average cash subsidy was 25,000 RMD( 4,066USD) depending on the household s size and economic status. 

Much of the research on the use of natural FRC materials has been motivated by the ready availability of such fibres, which are high in strength. Combined with the simple production processes for making cementitious composites of various shapes, they are potentially suitable for low cost housing applications. This topic has been reviewed in several references [3-5]. 

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