Low-Cost Housing in Hilly Regions: Sustainable Material and Construction Techniques

Abstract

Housing is a basic human need and play an important role in improving the quality of life and social well-being. In a developing country like India, rapid population growth and urbanization have increased the demand for affordable housing. Housing constitutes a fundamental component of urban infrastructure and plays a significant role in achieving inclusive and sustainable development. The government of India introduced the “Housing for all” initiative to address the housing requirements of economically weaker and low-income groups. However, the increasing cost of land, construction materials, labor, and associated infrastructure has made adequate housing financially inaccessible to a significant section of the population. This study investigates the applicability of sustainable material and costs effective construction techniques for developing affordable housing while maintaining adequate structural performance, durability, thermal comfort and environmental suitability. This paper basically explains how low-cost housing in hilly region uses alternative and locally available materials to reduce overall construction cost while maintaining basic strength and safety. The comparison of the two construction methods with different materials demonstrates that low-cost housing is significantly more cost-effective, costing approximately 69% less than the traditional housing. The study concludes that low-cost housing is a suitable solution for providing affordable homes to low- and middle-income groups in developing countries like India. Proper planning, selection of appropriate materials, quality control, skilled supervision, and awareness of modern construction techniques are essential to ensure the long-term performance and durability of low-cost housing. The finding highlights the potential of integrating locally available resources with cost effective and sustainable construction technologies to develop affordable, resilient, and environmentally responsible housing solution in India.

Introduction

Low-cost housing in hilly regions is an important research area because difficult terrain, high transportation costs, limited accessibility, natural hazards, and expensive construction materials and skilled labor make housing costly. The study focuses on developing affordable, sustainable, durable, and earthquake-resistant housing by combining locally available materials, traditional construction practices, and modern engineering techniques.

Main Objectives

The study aims to:

• Reduce construction and maintenance costs.

• Use locally available and sustainable materials.

• Improve seismic safety and durability.

• Reduce transportation and labor requirements.

• Provide affordable housing for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Low-Income Groups (LIG).

• Compare traditional and low-cost construction methods based on cost, time, performance, and environmental impact.

Traditional Housing in Hill Regions

Traditional settlements are generally located on stable and relatively flatter areas, often on southern slopes to obtain sunlight and protection from cold northern winds. Traditional houses commonly use locally available materials and climate-responsive designs.

Examples of traditional construction include:

• Mud houses: mud and straw, commonly used in Leh-Ladakh and Lahaul-Spiti.

• Dry stone walls: used in Kangra and Chamba.

• Sun-dried brick houses: used in outer Himalayan regions.

• Stone houses: common in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

• Taaq system: timber and brick construction used in Kashmir.

These traditional techniques can provide good thermal comfort and earthquake performance when appropriately designed.

Study Area: Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh was selected because of its mountainous terrain, varying elevations, difficult transportation conditions, and diverse climatic conditions. Remote and high-altitude areas face particularly high costs for transporting cement, steel, bricks, and aggregates.

Locally available materials such as stone, timber, bamboo, and other regional materials can help reduce construction costs. Climate factors such as heavy rainfall and snowfall also influence the selection of materials, structural systems, and roof designs.

Findings from Previous Research

Previous studies indicate that several low-cost technologies can reduce construction costs and time. Important techniques include:

• Prefabrication and modular construction

• Manufactured sand (M-sand)

• AAC blocks

• Fly ash bricks

• Hollow concrete blocks

• Filler slabs

• Rat-trap bond masonry

• Bamboo and other natural materials

• Passive solar design

• Recycled and waste-based construction materials

Research cited in the text reports significant potential savings in construction time, labor, material use, and overall cost, depending on the technology and project conditions.

Government Support

Conclusion

The study concludes that low-cost housing technologies can provide an economical, sustainable, and context specific alternative to conventional housing in hilly region. The analysis shows that selection of locally available material, lightweight construction systems, appropriate building techniques, and passive design approaches can reduce construction costs while maintaining adequate strength, durability, thermal comfort, and environmental performance. The comparison the propose 2BHK low- cost housing with conventional housing demonstrates a significant difference in construction cost. The estimated cost of the low-cost housing was ?4,08,047, whereas the conventional housing cost approximately ?13,17,790, resulting in a cost reduction of about 69%. This indicates the considerable economic potential of low-cost construction techniques for low-income and economically weaker communities. However, cost reduction should not the only criterion for selecting a housing technology, particularly in hilly region where building is exposed to earthquake, landslides, difficult terrain, transportation constraints, and climatic variations. The study therefore emphasizes that material selection and technology should be evaluated with respect to structural safety, local climate, availability of sources, skilled labor, maintenance requirement, thermal comfort and sustainability. Techniques such as AAC blocks construction, mud-based construction, filler slab system, bamboo, locally available stone, and other resource efficient material have potential to reduce material consumption, dead load and over all construction expenditure. Cooperatives should be formed to support low-cost housing by using locally available materials and reducing the need to transport materials from distant places. This can lower transportation and material costs and may reduce the total construction cost by about 20-30%.

References

[1] Bhatta, Analysis of Urban Growth and Sprawl from Remote Sensing Data. Springer, Berlin, Germany 2010. [2] Oliver, P. Built to Meet Needs: Cultural Issues in Vernacular Architecture. Architectural Press, Oxford, U.K (2006) [3] Rapoport, A. House Form and Culture. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA (1969). [4] Arya, A. S. Guidelines for Earthquake Resistant Non-Engineered Construction. Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC), Government of India. (2000) [5] Government of Himachal Pradesh, “Himachal Pradesh at a Glance,” Government of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, India. [6] Government of Himachal Pradesh, Department of Revenue, “Geography and Climate of Himachal Pradesh,” Government of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, India. [7] Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, Census of India 2011: Primary Census Abstract, Himachal Pradesh, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India 2011. [8] Government of Himachal Pradesh, Department of Economics and Statistics, Statistical Abstract of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, India. [9] Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, State Disaster Management Plan: Himachal Pradesh, Government of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, India. [10] [10] Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, “Landslide Hazard in Himachal Pradesh,” Government of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, India. [11] Department of Agriculture, Government of Himachal Pradesh, “Agro-Climatic Zones of Himachal Pradesh,” Government of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, India. [12] India Meteorological Department, Climate of Himachal Pradesh, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. [13] Bureau of Indian Standards, IS 1893 (Part 1): 2016, Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures, India: BIS, 2016. [14] Bureau of Indian Standards, IS 4326: 2013, Earthquake Resistant Design and Construction of Buildings—Code of Practice, India: BIS, 2013. [15] Bureau of Indian Standards, IS 13827: 1993, Improving Earthquake Resistance of Earthen Buildings—Guidelines, India: BIS, 1993. [16] Bureau of Indian Standards, IS 13828: 1993, Improving Earthquake Resistance of Low Strength Masonry Buildings—Guidelines, New Delhi, India: BIS, 1993. [17] Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana—Housing for All (Urban), New Delhi, India. [18] Building Materials & Technology Promotion Council, Vulnerability Atlas of India, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi, India. [19] UN-Habitat, United Nations Human Settlements Programmed. Urbanization and Development: Emerging Futures. United Nations Human Settlements Programmed, Nairobi, Kenya, 2016. [20] V. Devi and R. Taur, “Low-cost housing,” in Proceedings of ACSGE-2009, BITS Pilani, India, pp. 25–27, oct 2009. [21] B. V. V. Reddy, “Suitability of M-Sand as Fine Aggregate in Mortars and Concrete,” CSIR Project Report, Project No. CP 6597/0505/11-330, July 2011. [22] A. A. Jadhav, S. S. Patil, and S. Kadam, “Cost Analysis of Affordable Housing Technologies,” 2024. [23] S. Jain and H. Bhandari, “An Affordable Housing with Prefabricated Construction Technology in India: An Approach to Sustainable Supply,” ECS Transactions, vol. 107, no. 1, pp. 8513–8520, Doi: 10.1149/10701.8513ecst, 2022. [24] A. Perez-Fargallo, J. A. Pulido-Arcas, C. Rubio-Bellido, M. Trebilcock, B. Piderit, and S. Attia, “Development of a new adaptive comfort model for low-income housing in the central-south of Chile,” Energy and Buildings, vol. 178, pp. 94–106, doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2018.08.030, 2018. [25] Vivian et al., “Low-cost housing,” 2000. [26] A. D. Chougule et al., “Filler Slab as an Alternative Construction Technique for Sustainable and Low-Cost Housing,” 2014. [27] K. Gopalan and M. Venkataraman, “Affordable Housing: Policy and Practice in India,” IIMB Management Review, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 129–140, doi: 10.1016/j.iimb.2015.03.003,2015. [28] A. Ganga Warrier, P. Tadepalli, and S. Palaniappan, “Low-cost housing in India: A review,” IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, vol. 294, no. 1, Art. no. 012092, doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/294/1/012092, 2019 [29] K. Kumar and S. Parihar, “Affordable and Low-Cost Housing Solution in India: A Comparative Analysis,” 2025. [30] B. V. Doshi, Aranya Low-Cost Housing Project, Indore, India, 1989. [31] M. A. Qadri Syed Khaja, “Recycled Materials and Sustainable, Innovative, Affordable Housing (SIAH): Investigating the Current Status, Progress, and Way Forward,” Journal of Architectural Engineering Technology, vol. 13, no. 4, Art. no. 1000402, doi: 10.4172/2168-9717.1000402, 2024 [32] S. Sawadatkar, A. Jagtap, K. Tikhe, and P. Mohare, “Sustainable Architectural Design Using Laurie Baker’s Method for Building Construction,” E3S Web of Conferences, vol. 559, Art. no. 04051, doi: 10.1051/e3sconf/202455904051, 2024. [33] Chiluka, S. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Low-Cost Housing Methods in India. Journal of Civil and Construction Engineering, 9(2), 29–46, 2023. [34] Government of India, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY): Housing for All, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, 2015. [35] Bureau of Indian Standards, IS 456:2000: Plain and Reinforced Concrete—Code of Practice, New Delhi, India: BIS, 2000. [36] Bureau of Indian Standards, IS 1893 (Part 1):2016: Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures—Part 1: General Provisions and Buildings, New Delhi, India: BIS, 2016. [37] Bureau of Indian Standards, IS 800:2007: General Construction in Steel—Code of Practice, New Delhi, India: BIS, 2007. [38] Bureau of Indian Standards, IS 13920:2016: Ductile Design and Detailing of Reinforced Concrete Structures Subjected to Seismic Forces—Code of Practice, New Delhi, India: BIS, 2016. [39] Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC), Compendium of Prospective Emerging Technologies for Mass Housing, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi, India. [40] S. Navaratnam, T. Ngo, T. Gunawardena, and D. Henderson, “Performance review of prefabricated building system and future research in Australia,” Buildings, vol. 9, no. 2, Art. no. 38, 2019. [41] J. L. Suarez, L. Gosselin, and N. Lehoux, “Analysis of value creation in social housing construction in remote communities—Application to Nunavik, Canada,” Built Environment Project and Asset Management, vol. 13, pp. 493–508, 2023

Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Dr. Bedatrayee Saha, Vipin Sharma. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.