Low cost housing

Use of locally available materials and technology without sacrificing the strength and life of the structure, write Lydia Namono. Recently, I took a walk through Namuwongo and came across a housewife living in a one-roomed house demarcated with a curtain to separate the bedroom from the sitting room.

The house made of mud and wattle was flooded with dirty rain water following the heavy down pour. She is just one in a million of Ugandans living in inhabitable homes. There is a mindset among some people that building a home requires a lot of money and wonder where to get over Shs20m for a decent low cost house.

Low cost houses
According to Ms Maery Mungati, a quantity surveyor of East African Consulting Surveyors and Valuers, a low cost house can be two or three bed-roomed and completed with relatively cheap materials such as iron sheets, timber or clay bricks. In this case, the house owner uses alternatively cheaper products as finish materials with simple building techniques. Therefore, it is advisable for one to choose a decent house which is also affordable.

On average, most Ugandans, especially in rural areas, live in mud and wattle houses roofed with old iron sheets. This means that the greater part of the population is still facing housing problems yet they can opt for low income houses with materials like stones, burnt clay bricks, mud and wattle, sand, iron bars, iron sheets and timber.

The option
Usually, people start constructing houses and get stuck for different reasons such as high costs of building materials. That is why they opt to build in phases or even on loans. “However, low cost housing enables the needy people to minimise the spread of diseases associated with poor housing facilities,” says Mr Barnabas Kiisa, the chief executive officer at Community Shelter Uganda, a Non-Governmental Organisation dealing in low cost housing.

At Habitat for Humanity, low cost housing is provided in two categories. Using the housing finance programme that targets the low income earners for instance, cobblers and taxi conductors or the active poor one can build using a loan that is repayable. “In this case, someone comes and declares his intention to build a house. The loan is issued in the range of Shs200,000 to Shs3m,” says Mr Ronald Ongopa, the communications manager at Habitat for Humanity. He adds that in the orphaned and other vulnerable children’s category, the beneficiaries are given a house with no need to repay. The only provide few locally available materials.

Housing cost
On average, a unit constructed for the orphaned at Habitat for Humanity costs Shs5m per unit while the home improved loan depends on the improvements made on the house.

For instance, if a boda-boda cyclist is given Shs700,000 for iron sheets, he is required to pay back with an interest of five per cent. This means that he will repay that amount in addition to Shs35,000. In this case, the cost depends on the improvements made on the house. Alternatively, at Community Shelter for Uganda, a unit costs about Shs8m. The cost of labour varies from place to place.

Challenges encountered
The are various setbacks in the strive to provide affordable housing in Uganda.

Inadequate income to access loans
According to experts in the housing industry, the need for affordable shelter for the low and middle income earners is still big. “Some employed people can access mortgages from commercial banks that require paying back. However, those without constant income are left out because of their inability to repay regularly,” says Mr Ongopa.

Increased urbanisation
Urban areas are flooded with people who still have the perception that they cannot develop unless they reside in the city. Worse still, many of them are jobless while others are earning very little income that hardly sustains their families.

The high cost of building materials
Most of the poor in Uganda cannot afford construction materials. “What happens is that the rich people buy some of these houses and sell them at a higher price; leaving the poor in substandard homes where they are vulnerable to diseases,” Ms Mungati explains.

Inefficient land supply practices
In some regions such as Central Uganda, land is owned traditionally. Therefore, if you want to start a project of low cost housing, you need to first seek permission from the Kabaka of Buganda. So far, Community Shelter for Uganda is targeting the rural community because of the problems associated with acquiring land.

Price of land
Most people cannot afford to live in a decent house because the prices of land keep on doubling, yet their monthly incomes are not increasing.

Housing guide

Ways to minimise construction costs
Ms Mungati advises that one should not assume that all the building materials used in low cost housing are cheap. This is because the cost depends on the source of materials as well one’s ability to control the use of their resources. However, it is possible for one to minimise costs in the following ways.
* Using energy saving materials such as concrete blocks. These do not require one to plaster unless they can afford. “The cement in between the bricks is usually scooped out with a metallic strip and used again; saving on the amount of cement used,” Mr Ongopa explains.
* Choose a simple house design. “The more complicated your house plan is, the more you are likely to spend,” says Mr Martin Luther Bwambale, an architect from Darc Group Limited.
* Choose an affordable finish material. The most expensive part in building a house is in the finish material selected. Some people actually think timber is cheap yet it is more expensive than steel.
* Plan ahead. This limits you from demolishing a structure that you tirelessly put up simply because you changed your mind about what you wanted. Building a low cost house requires you to start saving in advance.
* Use locally available materials. These reduce on your expenses enabling you to live within your budget. The local people provide some materials like sand, mud and wattle. This minimises the cost of building.
The need for affordable shelter among the poor people is still ignored. Unless they are accorded habitable homes, the country is bound to spend more on eradicating disasters and diseases, especially in the rural areas.

Prices of materials
* At Uganda Clays Limited, interlocking blocks cost between Shs600 and Shs750 each, while at Community Shelter Uganda, each costs Shs220.
* The price of iron sheets depends on the size. At Roofings Limited, gauge 32 costs Shs16,400, gauge 30 Shs22,200 and gauge 28 Shs27,700.
* Roofing nails cost Shs5,000 per kilogramme.
* Each piece of timber costs Shs7,200 at Habitat for Humanity.
* 12mm of twisted iron bars cost Shs24,500 each at Community Shelter Uganda Limited.
* A wooden window shutter costs Shs55,000 while each wooden door shutter costs Shs100,000.
* The stones are usually crushed from rocks to form aggregates. Each trip of aggregate costs Shs21,500.
* Burnt mud bricks cost between Shs120 and Shs150.
* For mud and wattle, there is no price because the people get them locally from their surrounding environment.
* Each tonne of sand costs Shs15,000.
* Cement meant for the plastering is also available in two types; Hima and Tororo. Hima cement costs Shs24,500 while Tororo cement costs Shs24,000 at Hardware World while at Community Shelter Uganda, it costs Shs23,000.
* The hydra form machine that makes interlocking blocks costs about Shs30m So far, it is used in northern Uganda.