Low-cost housing challenge to fire up industry

PAN-AFRICAN housing development finance institution Shelter Afrique yesterday announced the launch of a competition to design a low-cost house with total prize money of $100000 (R1.4million).

Shelter Afrique said it and its partners pledged to support the financing of 5000 houses based on the winning entry in agreed locations across Africa.

The 5 000 For 5 000 Home Competition, is aimed at stimulating innovative thinking on how a livable home can be produced less than $5000.

Shelter Afrique’s managing director, James Mugerwa, said evidence of a rising middle class abounded in sub-Saharan Africa’s largest cities, but there was another story, an uncomfortable and less told story of Africa’s urban poor.

“This competition aims to spur discussion and bring out affordable housing concepts… for the rising urban population,” he added.

Affordability

Shelter Afrique said research showed that two-thirds of the population in Africa’s cities and townships lived on less than $3.10 per day.

“The cost of new housing, including that built by government agencies, is significantly higher than what people with low incomes can afford.

“The consequence of this is the rapid growth of informal settlements, slums on the edge of Africa’s major cities,” Shelter Afrique said.

The competition will seek to highlight this problem and provide a sustainable solution.

To enter the competition, designers must come up with the design for a one-bedroom unit with a 45m² footprint.

Use of eco-friendly, lightweight, sustainable materials to achieve low construction cost is a requirement and options for natural ventilation should be considered.

The competition, which is open to anyone – including individuals and teams of designers, artists, architects, engineers – is open for entries until the end of next January.