Self-Built, Commonsense, Affordable Housing…
Grey Nomad Jobs On Atherton Tablelands
July 3, 2009National Farmers’ Markets Conference August 09
July 11, 2009James Nethery of the Affordable Housing Group Australia has contacted us with info about a much needed affordable housing project he’s working on. It sounds interesting, ambitious.
The group aims to make every aspect of their designs as simple as possible and it has designs for most social needs – growing families, intergenerational, consolidated, over 55, sea and tree change, lifestyle living…
Design
- The design medium is a 3.6 metre grid layout
- The roof is either pitched or flat
- The emphasis is on affordability, for self build (simple hand tools and lots of common sense)
OR
a builder who should be able to build to lock up in a few days - The houses are ‘not rocket science’ but basic homes that families can afford. (No-one can do anything at this stage about the cost of building blocks, says James.)
- The garages are not a integral part of the house
- The designs are from one bedroom to multiple bedrooms
- The three bedroom designs are about 125 metres square
Materials
- The all lightweight steel construction means there are no concrete slabs or bricks
- Lightweight steel is stronger than timber, the termites will not eat it and from a design aspect more flexible designs have been achieved and most parts have been standardised
- The cladding is all lightweight – plywood, corrugated iron and fibre cement which varies from sheets to shiplap and associated finishes
- Regardless of location being lightweight there is a ease of transport anywhere
Applications
- The product has export possibilities
- There are designs for urban to regional, rural to remote, and very remote
- There are two three bedroom designs that the group feels are bushfire proofed ie the contents should not self combust through radiant heat. With simple changes it could used for extreme hot weather use
- A three bedroom design that should cost less than $15,000 is suitable for top end remote area indigenous use. There is an additional room for the children to do their school studies – the simplest house designed so far. This design has the potential to be ‘expanded’ into say a school assembly hall, medical use, administration.
For More Info
Contact James Nethery: email jwdn44@hotmail.com, Mobile 0429 167 926
5 Comments
Can I congratulate on how you have made a complex topic into a simple set of requirements. It is real progress.
Great idea but am wondering how passive solar performance will be attained without heavy weight materials for more temperate parts of Australia? Hopefully different options for different climatic zones.
I agree with Melinda, Sounds like it could require alot of heating/cooling. Has that been thought about? There is no mention of insulation. Potentially like a “Fibro hotbox”. Quick and cheap is no more eco friendly than expensive and extravigant.
We are developing the prototype 6 meter diameter octagonal ECOCABANA, which is and incorporating a dome like roof, which makes an extremely strong structure, with components such as the kitchen, ensuite and bedroom attach to the main frame. It is intended as a free standing Independent Living Unit for a single person or a couple. Multiple Cabanas can be grouped together for a family. It is designed to be relocatable if necessary. The panels and most of the roof dome are 2400mm X 2400mm and interchangeable.
Any attempt to make housing more affordable is commendable. As long as these homes provide a decent standard of housing, I support it. But the cost of housing is not only the house; it is house and land.
James says: (No-one can do anything at this stage about the cost of building blocks, says James.)
Can I correct that? There is a simple way of keeping the cost of land down. That is a flat-rate, all-inclusive Land Tax. Ken Henry recommended it, as have all other independent reports in the past few decades. What is missing is the political will. Kevin Rudd knocked it on the head on the first day. The foolish man! Taking the speculative element out of the housing market is the most efficient way of ensuring housing affordability.
What has to change is the mindset that housing is the preferred method of wealth creation. It is a static asset, and it is only the shortage of land sites that keps the prices rising.
Check it out at: prosper.org.au