Transformation of Government-built Low-cost Housing [Archives:1999/33/Focus]

By: 
Archeologist Kamal Haglan 
Ministry of Construction, 
Housing and Urban Planning 
As it became more difficult, if not impossible, in many developing countries including Yemen to afford adequate housing, many people of poor and low-income groups hopefully, expecting from their governments to help them obtaining decent and adequate housing. Governments therefore as part of their responsibility toward these disadvantaged people, pay attention to their problem and try to provide them with through low-cost housing projects. 
Since construction of such projects is very difficult and complicated task requires both large financial and human resources and efficient management skills, which Yemen as many developing countries lacks. Thus, governments with limited resources adopt low cost housing projects schemes as a good and practical solution for poor and low-income groups to provide with housing units. In many cases and as their first reaction, the fortunate families regard such units, especially those consist numerous members, as too small and insufficient in term of size and habitable space available. 
Having, formally and legally, obtained ownership status of housing and feeling secured and saved, beneficiaries, immediately after they move in to such housing units, generally carry out various transformation activities aiming to improve and enhance these units. The costs of first transformations are not expected to be high, because heads of households would inevitably face some financial constraints at this stage of their stay in the low cost houses. Once they are settled and had sufficient funds from family savings, the household plans an elaborate second phase of transformations. In most cases, this would be the final phase. However, and because households realize that they have not alternative, they accept such houses bearing in mind the possibility of carrying out some transformation activities in the future. 
Generally speaking, the decision of households’ heads to implement extensions to their dwellings provided by the government is influenced by several factors and reasons, which explain the process of such transformation activities and why and when people implement them. Some of the most important factors are specified as following: 
– To increase the house space 
As mentioned above the units of low-cost housing projects are small and are not sufficiently enough in term of number of habitable rooms and space. Since most of the families who move to such housing are already in an advanced stage, probably having children, they find their houses tiny and incapable of providing adequate, comfort and require privacy for all the occupants, particularly for the elderly. For families who have too many children and other immediate family relatives (Mother, father Mother in Law etc.) living in the same house, situation is certainly more badly. Not mentioning extended family’s members who might, for different reasons, leave their villages and join the household, which is very popular habit in Yemeni society. In addition, the growing up (over 16) sons or daughters would probably require their own rooms, especially when there are son or sons to get married and live in the same house with their parents. Therefore, it is obvious that the disparate need for the extra habitable rooms for additional members joining the household to be one of the strong and important factors contributing to conduct extension. 
– Household income 
Household income is another factor determining on transformation process. As the life cycle progress, it is likely that household’s income would change and its economic circumstances improve. With these changes and increase of income the household will probably want and afford to curry out some extension or add other floors. It is believed that the higher is the increase of income the larger is the scale of the transformation activities. Because the lack of enough land around the dwelling, the vertical expansion is very likely to take place. Additional rooms or even whole floors are constructed as soon as the fund is available. Some transformers even go to further extent as they were on such good economic position that enabled them to entirely destroy the original dwelling and raised in the same land completely new house using other, in many cases more expansive building materials and even different architectural and spatial design. This is because they can not curry the transformation they want due to the weakness of the structure of the original dwelling. Examples of such cases can be seen in projects as Madina Sakania in Hadda area or low-cost housing of Sawad Saawan in Sana’a. Which many units now look completely different in form and size than at the time it was constructed. 
– To rent out added spaces 
Renting additional rooms or added floor could be the motivation behind transformation. As supposedly occupants of such housing units are low-income groups, they most likely would consider renting out additional habitable spaces as a sufficient mean for extra income. Therefore, they willingly invest some of their savings in constructing extensions to original house on account of businesses venture for at least some additional income. Some transformer, in case there are technical and structural possibilities, may alert one of the rooms that facing street into a store or build a new one if land is enough available. The store either to be rented out or to be used the owner to run a business activities for himself, which called Home based enterprise. This is quite true as the economic development within the area of housing project increases and more demand for such spaces grows. 
– To improve accommodation for main household 
The transformation could be carried out to improve accommodation and its environment for the main household. Extensions would include changing the size of the rooms by eradicating a dividing wall of two rooms into larger one. It also could involve changing or modifying the kitchen or living room’s space in order to make them more comfortable. In some case the changing or transformation could totally shift the spatial design of the dwelling if it possible structurally. This is more probably to happen when the household is dissatisfied with the arrangement of the space within the dwelling. And in order to make the house more suitable for their way of life and that of their children. 
– To increase the value and cost of house 
As all the original units tend to be of very similar value and cost. The transformed houses will be of different value and cost depending on the level and scale of such transformation activities. For instant, in Al-Madina al-Sakania in Hadda area the value per unit were uniformed at the time they were constructed. There is now big difference between the original and expanded or transformed units. 
– No other alternative available 
Realizing that it is very difficult and infeasible to afford to buy other house, households rather prefer to invest their savings in making some extension and expansions rather than to buy another house and move. This is mainly because the fact that they rather see more chance in affording transformation that will lead them to own larger house with much lower cost. Also because they do not want to leave the area. 
The consequences of transformation activities can be observed at the sites of several governmental low cost housing projects in our cities. Over years many household executed various types of transformation and extension to their original dwellings and most likely that they will continue to do so as far as the above mentioned reasons and factors are concerned. 
While some may consider the transformation activities as a process that would lead and change the uniform of such projects into some deformed settlements, and call for banding people from doing so. In reality it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to prevent people from doing so. I have known that some measures have been taken to impose regulations that enforce the transformers to obtain a permission to carry out any extensions. The amount of money that transformer has to pay for permission is quite high to discourage him of implementing his plans. However, many would pay what ever is required to get the permission as they are in need for extensions. 
As a matter of fact, the transformation process has many advantages and benefits not only for households themselves but also for the governmental agencies. All the construction activities to add rooms, floors, extra spaces are privately financed by the household with no cost on the government. In addition, they producing new housing to the market and therefore contributing to meet the increase demand. The housing produced is within the same areas and serviced land and this minimize the additional cost from the government. Furthermore, they provide more spaces and improve the occupancy level. As the original units, with their poor physical appearance, the transformation is leading to the upgrading of the estate in particular and to the human settlements in general. 
Despite these advantages, there are some problems that occurred as a result of such activities, especially in case of uncontrolled and excessive transformation. The most important and serious is the overpressure to the, initially planned and constructed for a set number of families, infrastructure caused by the doubled or even trebled number of households that would, after several years, inhabit in such housing. 
Therefore, it is important, when planning for new such projects, to take into account all the factors and circumstance that make beneficiaries undertake transformation activities by the household. To design the infrastructure bearing in mined the future increase of the population. Despite the early short losses in density from the larger plots, the long-term density probably to be very similar, or even higher than those resulting from smaller plots. Therefore, the plots of land should be larger rather than smaller and dwellings to be located perhaps in the corner side of the plot. This probably would enable households to have some options to extend efficiently and with the minimum disturbance to their neighbors and the layout of the areas as a whole. Plot shapes and sizes should take account of pressure to extend. Adopting permissive attitude toward transformation with light control and prevent the worst excesses. 
It is equally important for the public agencies to undertake in-depth review and evaluation of existing situation of low-cost housing to determine all the dimensions of the transformation phenomenon and its process to avoid any implications and problems that may occur in future governmental projects as a result of transformation. Further more, to set strategy exploring how to benefit from it in improving the housing sector performance in the country as a whole considering the potential housing it produces to the market.
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