Affordable Housing
May. 23rd, 2026 08:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithA friend tipped me to this:
THE PLOTLAND HOUSES OF BRITAIN: HOW A 20TH CENTURY WORKING-CLASS HOUSING MOVEMENT WAS STIFLED
His piece of land cost him £10 in 1934. It is 40 ft wide by 100 ft deep. First, he put up a tent which his family used at weekends, and he gradually accumulated tools, timber and glass which he brought to the site strapped to his back as he cycled down from London. – Dennis Hardy & Colin Ward, Arcadia for All, 1984, p. 200
In the first half of the twentieth century, and particularly in the inter-war period, up to the 1947 Planning Act, the appearance throughout Britain of thousands of self-built shacks, chalets, recycled buses and railway carriages was considered by the powers-that-be as a terrible eyesore. Middle-class planners like Clough Williams-Ellis, architect of Portmeirion, the set of The Prisoner, considered them a ‘blot on the landscape’ that needed to be eradicated. But from another viewpoint, 80 years on, they look like the beginning of a postmodern urban vernacular. They were a new working-class architecture in the process of being evolved, that was brought to a halt through ignorance and class prejudice.
So here we had a terrific approach to affordable housing. You bought a tiny, undeveloped plot of land cheaply. You lived on it as you could, with a tent or whatever, and you built what home you could with your skills or by hiring or bartering someone else's help. This is much better than homelessness.
But then rich people, who didn't even own that land, pitched a fit because ... well, basically they just hated poor people and wanted them to go die somewhere out of sight. This bullshit is exactly what led to a rampant housing crisis in Great Britain, America, and various other places. People legislated away most or all the affordable housing because they didn't like how someone else's housing looked. Assholes.
However, this approach remains viable anywhere outside of the zoned areas in an established municipality. In many places, that is most or all the area just outside town limits and the rural area. Buy a plot of land. Subdivide it into plots just big enough for a modest home, or even a tiny home. You might want to include enough space on at least some lots to allow for later expansion; it used to be the norm for people to build a small core, then add on more rooms as they could afford it. Mark out space for common amenities -- greenspace with a pavilion, picnic tables, and grills; a workshop; a common house, community gardens and food forest, etc. The smaller the private space, the more essential that common space becomes. Then you sell the plots. People can camp on them, park a vehicle there, build a small home, etc.
As a community, you figure out what amenities you want and can afford. Dirt, gravel, salvaged brick, or paved roads? Outhouses, individual septic tanks, or a collective sewer system with something like a swamp filter? You can almost certainly get electricity from the main grid, but you could opt for solar, wind, or something else instead. You might or might not have the option of city water depending where you are, so some communities might dig wells, use rain barrels, etc. Ensure that your bookkeeping accounts for liabilities such as future maintenance and replacement of facilities.
Given that most of America's cities are broke in addition to short on housing, this is one of two main solutions I've seen to that issue. Go build a new settlement somewhere else. The other is to cut the city limits back to the profitable core and leave the outskirts to reorganize or disband as they see fit. What most cities will probably do is keep kicking the can down the road until it falls into the gutter. On the bright side, all the "debt" of a municipality is unanchored. Any resident can escape it by moving away; the debt doesn't travel with you. Eventually, as cities become too expensive and broken for people to live in, residents will move away until it becomes a ghost town.
Ideally, look for batches of plans to build different sizes and styles of buildings which can be customized as needed.
Practical Small House Plans (0-3+ bedrooms)
CountryPlans sells energy efficient small house plans for folks who want to build a home, cottage, or cabin. Our plans come with multiple options and modifications (included in the plan price) to fit your building style and budget.
THE PLOTLAND HOUSES OF BRITAIN: HOW A 20TH CENTURY WORKING-CLASS HOUSING MOVEMENT WAS STIFLED
His piece of land cost him £10 in 1934. It is 40 ft wide by 100 ft deep. First, he put up a tent which his family used at weekends, and he gradually accumulated tools, timber and glass which he brought to the site strapped to his back as he cycled down from London. – Dennis Hardy & Colin Ward, Arcadia for All, 1984, p. 200
In the first half of the twentieth century, and particularly in the inter-war period, up to the 1947 Planning Act, the appearance throughout Britain of thousands of self-built shacks, chalets, recycled buses and railway carriages was considered by the powers-that-be as a terrible eyesore. Middle-class planners like Clough Williams-Ellis, architect of Portmeirion, the set of The Prisoner, considered them a ‘blot on the landscape’ that needed to be eradicated. But from another viewpoint, 80 years on, they look like the beginning of a postmodern urban vernacular. They were a new working-class architecture in the process of being evolved, that was brought to a halt through ignorance and class prejudice.
So here we had a terrific approach to affordable housing. You bought a tiny, undeveloped plot of land cheaply. You lived on it as you could, with a tent or whatever, and you built what home you could with your skills or by hiring or bartering someone else's help. This is much better than homelessness.
But then rich people, who didn't even own that land, pitched a fit because ... well, basically they just hated poor people and wanted them to go die somewhere out of sight. This bullshit is exactly what led to a rampant housing crisis in Great Britain, America, and various other places. People legislated away most or all the affordable housing because they didn't like how someone else's housing looked. Assholes.
However, this approach remains viable anywhere outside of the zoned areas in an established municipality. In many places, that is most or all the area just outside town limits and the rural area. Buy a plot of land. Subdivide it into plots just big enough for a modest home, or even a tiny home. You might want to include enough space on at least some lots to allow for later expansion; it used to be the norm for people to build a small core, then add on more rooms as they could afford it. Mark out space for common amenities -- greenspace with a pavilion, picnic tables, and grills; a workshop; a common house, community gardens and food forest, etc. The smaller the private space, the more essential that common space becomes. Then you sell the plots. People can camp on them, park a vehicle there, build a small home, etc.
As a community, you figure out what amenities you want and can afford. Dirt, gravel, salvaged brick, or paved roads? Outhouses, individual septic tanks, or a collective sewer system with something like a swamp filter? You can almost certainly get electricity from the main grid, but you could opt for solar, wind, or something else instead. You might or might not have the option of city water depending where you are, so some communities might dig wells, use rain barrels, etc. Ensure that your bookkeeping accounts for liabilities such as future maintenance and replacement of facilities.
Given that most of America's cities are broke in addition to short on housing, this is one of two main solutions I've seen to that issue. Go build a new settlement somewhere else. The other is to cut the city limits back to the profitable core and leave the outskirts to reorganize or disband as they see fit. What most cities will probably do is keep kicking the can down the road until it falls into the gutter. On the bright side, all the "debt" of a municipality is unanchored. Any resident can escape it by moving away; the debt doesn't travel with you. Eventually, as cities become too expensive and broken for people to live in, residents will move away until it becomes a ghost town.
Ideally, look for batches of plans to build different sizes and styles of buildings which can be customized as needed.
Practical Small House Plans (0-3+ bedrooms)
CountryPlans sells energy efficient small house plans for folks who want to build a home, cottage, or cabin. Our plans come with multiple options and modifications (included in the plan price) to fit your building style and budget.
