Abstract :
This paper attempts to make a preliminary application of the ideas put forward in a recent Guest Editorial in Habitat International2 which calls for a shift in targeting housing intervention from the householder/house interface to the contractor/house and householder/contractor interfaces. Impressionistic evidence based on the personal experience of the author and some literature is used to assess the applicability of the principles and implied suggestions for their implementation, to the particular situation of Makeni, Sierra Leone. Beginning with a review of the contents of the Editorial, the context and current process of housing delivery in Makeni are described and compared to the suggestions in the Editorial. A preliminary analysis suggested that interventions in the contractor/house and householder/house interfaces could improve on current levels of housing provision in Makeni, but certain constraints necessitate modifications to the ideas presented in the Editorial referred to above. These are discussed briefly in the recommendations at the end of the paper.
