Housing
| Published date | 01 October 1958 |
| Date | 01 October 1958 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1958.tb01178.x |
Housing
SECTION
V
(a) Building Standards
32.
The
problem
of
providing housing for members
of
the low income groups
did
not
begin to become a
major
one for Governments in East
and
Central
Africa until
about
twenty five years ago. At first
the
reaction
of
most Govern-
ments to this
problem
was to seek to construct to the relatively high building
standards
demanded
by
the
health
authorities, houses for renting to members
of
these groups or
their
employers. But this proved adifficult
and
expensive
task; for few members
of
the
lower income groups could afford
an
economic
rent
even for very small houses
built
to
the
standards
laid down,
and
even if
they could afford
the
rent,
the
financial resources of Governments
did
not
per-
mit
of their constructing
anything
like
enough
houses of this kind,
and
even
less could the Governments afford to
build
enough
if
the rents were
subsidized.
Hence
atendency for uncontrolled slums to grow up in
the
peri-
urban
areas.
33.
The
East Africa Royal Commission reached
the
conclusion
that
in the
economic circumstances of East Africa
the
territories could
not
afford to spend
their
limited resources on houses
of
the
standard
usually
demanded.
They
recommended
that
expenditure should
rather
be devoted to increasing the
capital
resources
of
the
territories which were immediately productive.
They
expressed
the
view
that
the
gap
between the capacity of
the
poorer members
of
the
population
to
pay
and
the
cost of building in
permanent
materials
could
not be sufficiently
narrowed
either by reducing building costs or,
at
the
present time, by raising wages.
They
accordingly recommended
that
in certain
zones building
standards
for persons building their own homes should be low-
ered
to accord
with
the
economic position
of
the territories
and
that
cheaper
methods
of
construction should be found: as
the
wealth of the territories
increased,
more
capital would be available for housing.
34. We
are
satisfied
that
home ownership will have astabilizing effect on
the
urban
population
and
should be given every encouragement. We do not
however, consider
that
it is necessarily advantageous
that
persons
who
wish to
own
their own homes should also construct their own homes. Construction of
permanent
houses by Government, by
the
local authorities or by contractors
to specifications provided by
the
future
owner
or chosen by
him
from a
number
of
alternative designs
may
prove to be cheaper,
more
popular
and
more
efficient
Subject to this qualification we
are
in general
agreement
with the views of the
Royal
Commission, as summarised above.
35. Whatever the
structural
requirements in
the
individual building zones,
we consider
that
the following conditions should always be fulfilled:
(a) Sufficient accommodation to enable afamily to live in conditions of
decency.
(b) Privacy, including family sanitation
and
other
domestic services, as
opposed to
communal
facilities.
(c) Essential services, such as roads
and
paths, stormwater drainage, a good
public
water
supply,
and
where economically possible, street lighting.
194
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