AFFORDABLE HOUSING: QUANTIFYING THE CONCEPT IN THE EGYPTIAN CONTEXT

AfFordability is the core of providing middle and low income housing. This paper debates the delivery of affordable housing in Egypt. It claims that the main current failure is the missing link between economic strata and relevant housing categories, i.e. the physical interpretation of affordability and appropriate delivery tools. In order to close the gap between housing market and targets, the paper dismantles housing market inputs to formulate an appropriate output; a housing market that is affordable, needs responsive and flexible. The methodology entails reviewing the current housing market, analyzing previous policies to pinpoint their failures. The paper then focuses on 3 main study areas to define affordability locally. First, deducing the physical needs of target groups through the study of formal housing standards and the parallel appealing informal housing market. Second, market analysis of prices and acquisition trends define the local financial system. Third, the economic study of income strata and relevant housing expenditures define affordability. The paper concludes a matrix of interrelating determinant factors of the appropriate housing program and suggests needed delivery tools to close the housing gap. The proposed methodology is applied to 10th of Ramadan city to quantify affordability and construct an appropriate housing market.