Constraints Facing Incremental Housing Construction in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

The owner-built incremental housing strategy has been used for many years across the developing world. This study examines the implication of construction constraints and challenges on annual construction cost expenditure across housing types. Using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis for 43 incrementally built housing units implemented in Dar es Salaam between year 1993 and 2013, the study has observed that single and two-storey incremental housing builders face the same set of human related construction challenges and external cost-push factors but different administrative, physical and interest related constraints. Of all the cost-push factors examined, interest rate intervention is the only observed strategy that has far reaching potentials to single-storey low cost incremental builders because such builders are less likely to resort to loans as a mechanism to finance housing. These findings suggest that any other external efforts targeting physical or human related incremental construction constraints are likely to end up either benefiting the high quality builders or every incremental builder regardless of cost or property type or both. The study argues in favour of targeted interest rate support rather than physical or administrative housing assistance if owner-builders are to benefit specifically in any housing policy support.

Participatory development of practical, affordable, insecticide-treated mosquito proofing for a range of housing designs in rural southern Tanzania

“…These findings are consistent with those reported for similar participatory approach in Mozambique where households also engaged enthusiastically and some similar technical solutions were developed, specifically the fitting of cloth borders to screen netting panels [51]. The success of the participatory approach applied and the technical solutions developed through this small pilot study in Tanzania, and previously in Mozambique [51], suggest that the usual obstacles to mosquito proofing faced by low income households with so many other competing budget priorities [11,37,52,53] may well be possible to overcome. Further studies that extend such approaches across much larger populations, and which include formal costing and social science investigations, are clearly merited to more rigorously assess their scalability.…”

An Investigation Into the Challenges of “Financialising” Rental Housing in Zambia

“…In most African and developing countries with similar linkage challenges of the housing and financial market, other ways are used to bridge the supply issues. Site and service and incremental building have been some of the major modes (Adeyeni et al, 2016;Sanga, and Lucian, 2016;Wainer et al, 2016;Amoako and Frimpong-Boamah, 2017;Mselle and Sanga, 2018;Adebayo, 2020). Mselle and Sanga (2018) confirm that owner-built incremental housing strategy has been used in developing countries for many years, with varying results.…”

“…Site and service and incremental building have been some of the major modes (Adeyeni et al, 2016;Sanga, and Lucian, 2016;Wainer et al, 2016;Amoako and Frimpong-Boamah, 2017;Mselle and Sanga, 2018;Adebayo, 2020). Mselle and Sanga (2018) confirm that owner-built incremental housing strategy has been used in developing countries for many years, with varying results. The study examined construc on constrains in Tanzania.…”

Budget Builds: Affordable Home Solutions.

“…The idea of incremental housing is a construction method in which a house grows overtime based on occupancy needs and budget limitations ( UN-habitat, 2005). The main benefit of this method is the initial costs associated with the building, allowing partial completion to reduce upfront construction costs (Mselle & Sanga, 2018). By incorporating aspects of incremental housing with prefabricated means could yield limitless solutions in which housing could be revolutionised within New Zealand's social conventions for first home buyers.…”

“…First developed after the First World War, incremental housing was a response to the severe housing shortage in Europe (Marinovic, 2020). The gradual building process allows for "partial habitation of completed portions of a house under construction" (Mselle & Sanga, 2018), acknowledging cost savings through self-help building and minimum standards (Joon, Lim, Kim & Wang, 2019;UN-habitat, 2005;Bangdome-Dery, Eghan & Afram, 2014). Due to the gradual building process, initial building costs seem cheap in comparison to normal construction but the total costs can be higher by 25% (Alananga, Lucian & Kusiluka, 2015).…”