This document discusses low-cost housing techniques. It notes that adequate housing is a challenge for developing countries and that low-cost housing is considered affordable if it costs less than 30% of household income. Traditional construction methods are outlined along with alternative low-cost techniques for foundations, walls, lintels, roofs, floors, and doors/windows that can reduce costs. Natural materials like bamboo, earth, straw and man-made materials like fly ash, aerocon panels and ferrocement are presented as options. The conclusion emphasizes the need for affordable housing in India to provide shelter given the growing population.

1. Presented by,
SUJEESH A S
S7 CB ROLL NO:61
Guided by,
Prof. Alice Mathai
Dept. of Civil Engg.

2. Introduction…
 Adequate shelter for all people is one of
the pressing challenges faced by the
developing countries
 Low cost housing can be considered
affordable for low and moderate-income
earners if household can acquire a housing
unit for an amount up to 30 percent of its
household income
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LOW COST HOUSING
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3. Why do we need low cost
houses?
 Rising costs
 Titling issues
 Scarcity of land
 Easy to build
 Fulfills the needs of conventional houses
 Our country aims that in our near future each
and every individual has his/her shelter for his
family and to fulfill this need we definitely need
some immediate plans
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4. Traditional construction
methods
 Foundation- RR Masonry
 Wall- Table moulded bricks
 Lintel- Reinforced concrete
 Plastering
 Doors and Windows
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5. Low cost construction technique
adopted
 Foundation
 Wall
 Lintel
 Roof
 Flooring
 Doors and Windows
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6. Foundation
 The foundation cost comes to about 10 to 15% of the
total building
 Suggested to adopt arch foundation in ordinary soil for
effecting reduction in construction cost up to 40%.
 In the case black cotton and other soft soils it is
recommend to use under ream pile foundation which
saves about 20 to 25% in cost over the conventional
method of construction.
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7. wall
 Making use of Rat – trap bond
wall & Concrete block wall.
 It is a cavity wall construction and
leads to reduction in the quantity
of bricks required for masonry
work.
 It is possible to reduce in the
material cost of bricks by 25%
and about 10to 15% in the
masonry cost.
 By adopting rat-trap bond
method one can create
aesthetically pleasing wall
surface and plastering can beSUJEESH AS S7CB ROLL NO: 61
LOW COST HOUSING
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8. Concrete block walling
 Concrete block which
consumes about only 1/3 of
the energy of the burnt bricks
in its production.
 Wall thickness can be
reduced from 20 cms to 15
Cms.
 Overall saving of 10 to 25%
can be achieved.
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9. Lintel
 The traditional R.C.C. lintels
can be replaced by brick arches
for small spans and save
construction cost up to 30 to
40%
 Good architectural pleasing
appearance can be given to the
external wall surfaces of the
brick masonry.
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LOW COST HOUSING
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10. Flooring
 Use of Terracotta tiles
 Bedding using broken brick bats
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11. Doors and Windows
 Door planks are screwed together with strap
iron hinges to form doors
 Vertical planks held together with horizontal
or diagonal battens
 A simplest frameless window consists of a
vertical plank of about 9” wide set into two
holes, one at the top and one at the
bottom
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LOW COST
HOUSING
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12. Roof
 Normally 5" thick R.C.C. slabs is used for
roofing of residential buildings.
 Construction practices like filler slab and
precast elements the construction cost of
roofing can be reduced by about 20 to 25%.
 Filler slabs
 Replacing unwanted and nonfunctional tension
concrete, thus resulting in economy.
 These are safe, sound and provide
aesthetically pleasing pattern
ceilings and also need no plaster.
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13. Low Cost Housing Materials
 Natural Materials-
1. Bamboo
2. Earth
3. Straw
4. Fiber-cement composites
 Artificial Materials-
1. Fly Ash
2. Aerocon panels
3. Ferro-cement
4. Rice Husk
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14. Natural materials
 Bamboo- Second largest producer, Almost
similar tensile strength as that of steel
 Earth- Oldest building material, Adobe block
 Straw- Rice straw has the highest silica
content, Fire resistant
 Fiber Cement Composites- Superior properties
as compared to concrete blocks
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15. Man Made Materials
 Fly Ash- Fly Ash can be substituted for many
constituents in building materials
 Aerocon Panels- Inorganic bonded sandwich
panels
 Ferro-Cement- Cement mortar reinforced with
one or more layers of wire mesh
 Rice Husk- Rice husk ash, Optimum
replacement level of OPC with RHA is 20%
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16. Conclusion
 There is a strict need at present in India for
building cheap and affordable houses
 It is the key to nations development ,to provide
proper shelter to its citizens
 The growing population in urban areas have led to
a strict shortage in land, congested traffic and
housing shortfall
 This has also led to the hike in prices which
makes it impossible for common people to have
their own houses
 Thus there is a immediate need for construction of
cheap houses in large scaleSUJEESH AS S7CB ROLL NO: 61
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17. References
 1) Vivian W. Y. Tam, Cost Effectiveness of using Low Cost Housing Technologies in
Construction, Procedia Engineering 14 (2011) 156–160
 2) Swaptik Chowdhury, Sangeeta Roy(April 2013), Prospects of Low Cost Housing in
India, Geomaterials , 2013, 3, 60-65
 3) Kalpana Gopalan, Madalasa Venkataraman(May 2015), Affordable housing: Policy and
practice in India, IIMB Management Review (2015) 27, 129-140
 3) Azhan Abdul Aziz and Abdullah Sani Ahmad, Home Making in Low-Cost Housing Area,
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 49(2012) 268-281
 4) Sushil G. Nikam A.C. Attar, Alternative Walling System for Low Cost Housing by Using
Bamboo, ISSN: 2278-3075, Volume-2, Issue-6, May 2013
 5) Anniz Fazli Ibrahim Bajunida and Mazlin Ghazalib, Affordable Mosaic Housing:
Rethinking Low-Cost Housing, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 49(2012) 245-
256
 6) Husrul Nizam Husina b, Abdul Hadi Nawawi b, Faridah Ismail b, Natasha
Khalila,Correlation Analysis of Occupants’ Satisfaction and Safety Performance Level in
Low Cost Housing, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 68(2015) 238-248
 7) Zarina Isnin, Rohaslinda Ramli, Ahmad Ezanee Hashim & Irwan M. Ali, Sustainable
Issues in Low Cost Housing Alteration Projects, Procedia - Social and Behavioral
Sciences 36 (2012) 393-401
 8) Bengt Hjort and Kristian Widén, Introduction of sustainable low-cost housing in Ethiopia
– an innovation diffusion perspective, Procedia Economics and Finance 21(2015) 454-
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