Abstract:
The housing requirements in Sri Lanka is rising due to growth of population and
urbanisation. Due to change in socio-economic conditions and the living patterns of the
society, there is a tendency for every individual family to own a house. Persons of
middle income and low income groups have only limited funds at disposal for house
construction.
Majority of the population raise the funds required for house construction through bank
loans, generally at around 15% to 20% interest rates with a payback period varying
between 10 to 20 years. Since the amount of money made available is generally limited to
ensure monthly instalments are within 40 % of the income the maximum amount that can
be raised for house constructions also limited. This calls for construction techniques that
achieve an utmost economy in house construction to suit the income of average and low
income wage earners.
The cost of housing in Sri Lanka has risen astromically in the recent past due to many
factors, one of which is the shortage of building material to meet the demand of the
building industry. One example is shortage of sand due to excessive sand mining.
Another is land for clay mining to produce bricks. A direct consequence of the shortage
of materials is the cost of building materials. This therefore calls for an urgent
investigation in to the possibility of using locally available alternative building materials
which can be used to replace the conventional building materials.
