Low Cost Housing with Alternative Building Materials

The cost of building a house in Nigeria has consistently increased over the years due to a combination of the rising cost of acquiring a land, the escalating cost of conventional wall building materials (particularly the imported ones), labour, etc. But one of the major factors militating against the availability of low-cost housing in Nigeria and other developing countries is the cost of conventional building materials which like the cost of acquiring the land, has a direct effect on the cost of construction.

Successive governments in Nigeria have paid lip-service to the provision of low cost and affordable housing for the Nigerian masses. For example, the Association of Housing Corporations of Nigeria (AHCN) once championed the use of locally-sourced wall building materials when it collaborated with the Akwa-Ibom state government to build an estate in Uyo using locally sourced materials. But this initiative was abandoned for no just cause. A similar effort by the Nigerian Building and Roads Research Institute (NBRRI) to popularise the use of locally-sourced alternatives to the conventional building materials such as red bricks have also not been well received.

But the goal of reducing the cost of construction can only be attained through the use of alternative building materials. locally-sourced low-cost building materials, economical construction technologies, efficient building plans, and good construction project management. Hence, a lot of research has gone into alternative homegrown low-cost building materials. For instance, research has gone into using laterite bricks as against the conventional sandcrete blocks for wall construction. Other areas include the use of stone, wood, steel, bamboo, recycled roofing sheets, plywood, etc in house construction.

To show how using locally sourced alternative building materials can reduce the cost of building a house and provide affordable housing, Mr Olabode Afolayan, the President of Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) said his company constructed an estate using hydraform technology.and sold two-bedroom standard houses at N2 million per unit. Mr Afolayan said the technology uses 7.5 percent cement content and does not require mortar, plastering or painting. "With it, we have been able to reduce the cost of construction by about 40 percent," he said.

How To Build Low-Cost Houses In Nigeria

To achieve affordable housing, we have to understand the major factors driving the cost of building construction. The first point to consider is the exterior and interior design of the building. One can save a fortune on house construction by eliminating non-functional heavy pillars, wall tiles and fascias. that tends to serve only aesthetic purposes. For example, instead of tiling your bathroom and kitchen walls completely, you can cut down cost by tiling just have way up the wall .

Another important point to consider is space utilization. You can see a very big house thinking it is a five-bedroom flat only to discover it is just a three-bedroom flat and that is mostly due to the lots of unnecessary space and duplicated features. For example, using wall cabinets the kitchen can reduce the size of the kitchen and store, thereby reducing the cost of building.

The type of building materials used is also a mojor factor to ponder. Some building materials other than sandcrete blocks can save you the cost of plastering and painting. Also, there are alternative materials for roofing, wall partitioning, flooring, finishing and even furnishing. Locally-sourced construction materials or recycled materials will definitely help in cutting down the cost of construction.

How To Select Low-Cost Building Materials

Money and Time Saving: 

Whatever your choice of alternative house construction material, if it does not save you cost and time of construction, then it has defeated the purpose of considering alternative building material. You may want to weigh both the short and long term cost and time savings of your alternative house construction material against the short and long term cost of using conventional building materials.

Availability Of Labour: 

A major issue when it comes to using locally-sourced alternative wall construction materials is the availability of labour. And when I say "labour" I mean qualified skilled labour. Most of the available labour is for sandcrete block making and laying. When even find qualified skilled labour it is usually expensive. But the good news is that we now have more people trained in the making and use of laterite bricks for house construction.

Location Of The Building: 

The choice of alternative building material should be tailored to the prevailing conditions at the location of the intended building. For instance, you do not want to use building materials that are considered ideal for the construction of a house on a dry solid land to construct a building in an area that is prone to flooding.

Availability Of Material:  

A critical point to consider when choosing building materials for wall construction is the availability of such material. It is always advisable to go for locally sourced building materials as it will not only reduce the cost of purchase of the material but will also cut the cost of transporting it to the construction site. Most locally sourced wall building materials are free and readily available in nature such as stones, wood, laterite, bamboo, etc.

Low Energy Requirement: 

The amount of energy required in the production of a building material should also be considered, particularly in developing countries where energy supply is still a big issue. It is better to use natural materials found in Nigeria such as woods, stones, sand, bamboos, laterite as they have low energy requirement, are more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Using recycled waste materials such as plywood and soft boards wherever possible reduces building cost while helping in waste management.

Sustainability: 

Research into alternative building materials provides new ways to integrate the technical, environmental, economic and social aspects of constructing a house. Serious considerations should be given to the source of the material, production techniques, engineering designs, and labour requirements when choosing alternative wall building materials. One should also consider the cost of maintaining the building.