Comments on: Can we achieve affordable housing in Barbados?

By: Advice for Home Owners « Weighed in the Balance

Advice for Home Owners « Weighed in the Balance — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:54:06 +0000

[...] Post is …. Pan-Africanism in the Balance ← The Construction Horror Show Can we achieve affordable housing in Barbados? [...]

By: The Worst House that the Code Will Allow « Weighed in the Balance

The Worst House that the Code Will Allow « Weighed in the Balance — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 02:22:12 +0000

[...] Can We Achieve Affordable Housing in Barbados [...]

By: worried

worried — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:09:16 +0000

Yes I guess these are valid points but the cost is increasing at a pace that does get you worried.

Hi Worried:

The increasing cost of building materials is of concern. However, with careful planning, a house can still be constructed for under $150 per sq-ft. Since a house is normally the largest single investment that a person or couple will make in their lifetime, conscientious planning is required. Where knowledge is lacking, one should ask for advice.

Regards,
Grenville

By: worried

worried — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:15:50 +0000

The question here is what is affordable housing?
How do we define it?
What is the building cost like today taking into consideration that the cost of steel is now around $4700/ton, the cost of cement has just gone up, freighting for sand stone etc has gone up, the cost of blocks will be going up shortly and the list goes on.
Taking all of this into consideration what is a realistic sqft building costs?

Hi Worried:

With the current cost of building materials, you can still build a comfortable and safe house for $150/sq-ft. You can build for less if you consider some creative designs that require less material.

For example, you can consider an open plan for the kitchen, dining room and living room rather than having each room enclosed with walls. Those walls have a material and labour cost attached to them.

You can also consider using a Trowel Plastic type wall finish rather than painting. With Trowel Plastic, you make one application, with paint you make at least 3 applications, and each application has a material and labour component. The labour component is higher for a 2-storey house where there is a lot of external scaffolding to be moved around.

No need to be worried.

Regards,
Grenville

By: Structural Engineer Grenville Phillips Hits Brick Wall «

Structural Engineer Grenville Phillips Hits Brick Wall « — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:36:23 +0000

[...] Can we achieve affordable housing in Barbados? [...]

By: Barbados » Blog Archive » Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup

Barbados » Blog Archive » Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:13:33 +0000

[...] Can we achieve affordable housing in Barbados?Regularly visit the construction site and see if you notice substandard work. You can view some typical examples of substandard in the construction section of this website. If your builder insists on doing substandard work, then dismiss … [...]