I built my own social housing: the rise of Chile's 'half-houses' | How We Live Now 

How is it possible that one man can make this happen but an entire government can't even build roads or stop being corrupt

I love the concept of providing the basics and allowing the owners to expand/finish as they wish! I can imagine the eclectic, the minimalist, and the traditional all living and coexisting together in an orderly yet unique neighborhood! :)

Reminds me of when they built low cost assembly line homes in Levittown in 1950. Now they are outrageously priced like everything in New York.

YESSSSS THAT'S WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!!! BUILDING HALF HOUSES THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE EXPANDED WITH TIME! I ADMIRE YOUR WORK!

wow, I see some odd complaints in the comments, in sure those people are just happy to have a home , who cares how it looks on the outside

I can see how the later buyers would face issues of higher costs since the price of the housing would increase. I was very surprised and disappointed to find out that in order to qualify for a Habitat for Humanity home here in the USA you have to have an income of $30,000 USD. How this is supposed to help with low income housing is beyond me. I thought I'd qualify, but my income is just over $19,000 a year. Not enough to even afford a regular studio apartment. I'm 65 and retired so my income won't increase unless Social Security increases. We need housing that is going to be easy to take care of and at a price that's truly affordable.

Mexico has this type of housing since the 1970's. It's called "pie de casa." It works, because people can move to an unfinish constructed house, which is less expensive and then, finish it later.

Any ideas of helping with the housing crisis is a positive thing

Brilliant idea but also logical & practical! 👏👍👍 I wish here in the Philippines our government learns from this idea.

Standing freezer next to refrigerator: I bet that house sees somw *wonderful* meals. Congratulations, homeowner.

*Beautiful idea.* Building the frame of the house without the walls is cheaper. Would totally buy one, just to play with the building and crafts.

0:54 having a name like Jack Self can't be as pleasurable as it sounds.

half-baked point at the end. the alternative to not letting someone sell the home at the market rate is mandating it be sold with some form of price control. imposing limits on how much a property can be sold for and who it can be sold to creates bigger problems than the ones you set out solve.

That accent is just so beautiful.

Con = when you die, your property cannot be willed to your children...it goes back to habitat

humankind needs to live with respect and this is a great example to us. Just imagine if we can do these houses around the world for people who don't have enough money to build a house over a $100.000 dollars. Thanks for sharing this with us. Chile is a great example to follow in the American continent and around the world.

Wow- so inspiring snd important!! Thsnk you!!

Puerto Rico is going need a similar model if it’s going rebuild.

What a brilliantly creative idea, genius

it was more about close-ups and explanations than about the houses themselves I did like the look of the half houses

If one house catches on fire then the neighborhood will be gone... But it is a beautiful idea. I hope the country improves and continues to have innovative solutions.

The problem with selling off social housing is that the housing stocks were not replaced, if that had been done then there wouldn't have been such a shortage. Also this is nothing like the UK did as this actually provides new homes at lower cost as it can be adapted when an individual is more financially secure or when family comes along and more space is needed.

I just love how he says slums and I stead of going to a Chilean one, the go to a Venezuelan slum, or also barrio, how do I know? Because there are posters of Henrique capriles a Venezuelan candidate for presidency, the drawing is very Latin American

I like the design of the house and concept you live in it then add to it and build it.

q bueno q haya un programa asi. me alegro.. hay mucha gente buena q se merecen esa gran oportunidad d tener su propio hogar.. Mil Be diciones🙏🥰🕊

...... I feel like drywall boarders and tappers would be a valuable commodity in that area.

Effective social achievement and development.

They are not the problem,they are a part of the solution👍👏...my prime minister needs to see this (Jamaica)

Fantastic! Thank you for humanitarians like this

this is very interesting concept!!!

So great!

They also have the same project in Lo Barnachea. It was featured in Gary Hustwit's Urbanized documentary.

How about building multi level parking garages near university/downtown areas with facilities designed for standing height high top van and camper clearances. You rent the spot which has a 220 outlet, fresh and grey water taps, on site bathrooms and shower facilities, bicycle racks. You would be situated where you need to be and rent would be a fraction of the cost of market rate apartments. Once your studies are over, or you saved enough to buy more traditional housing or your job location changed you could clear out for another spot renter. You could even sell your rig to the incoming new renter thereby holding some kind of equity where otherwise there would be none. This idea would alleviate a lot of daily traffic congestion as well. I can't be the only one with this idea but if you are reading this and have access to investment capitol please steal this idea and reap the rewards for taking the risk.

The point is u do the work your self. U care for your community more that way. And with the price only going up that amount. The future buyers won’t be paying 3xs the original price. Etc

The housing looks better than my rental home. 😥

I saw a lot of this in Asia where the comleted part of the house was the 2nd story and the ground floor was just the posts

This is wonderful !!!! very inspiring

BRILLIANT, Brilliant, brilliant idea!

Subtitles over subtitles = Awesome.

Awesome, the rest of the world should learn that...

I am happy for these people.

Great idea. Gives owners a chance to start small and improve value.

Awesome concept!

Love it!! Please do this in NYC!!!

This is absolutely incredible. I wish others could take after his plan.. this could significantly ease the homeless crisis in the US

love it...just brilliant

I’d like to see the interior of the houses

This is needed world wide.

Chile: Brilliant idea!

I would love to see more on these home

simply a beautiful design

Thatchers right to buy was great at the time. I bought my two bed in Central London for £25k in 1995. Its now worth North of £300,000. I feel thats not how the scheme was meant to operate and it certainly doesn't help people who are struggling to find accommodation now. But it's a massive windfall/safety net for my kids.

In Indonesia they started 21s. A 21 is 21 sq meters. Basically an efficiency 1 room home. Then a family of 4 live there. A 21 cost around 10,000 us dollars and there isn't a property tax there. We need to do that everywhere

This is a very good idea.

Wow I love this

Please share complete design of house. Regards

Wing nut had some really valid points

Great idea

Excellent however like the social housing post WWII housing here in Australia you start out with a kitchen and build out from there. Let's return to practical.

This is done in Jamaica.

So long as housing has any aspect of being considered an investment there will always be a housing crisis. This is because when someone can buy it and then later sell it for more than they purchased it for the house will go up in value consistently and when that price goes high enough it creates a situation where someone wont be able to afford the purchase.

Fantastic idea. I would buy one here in canada if it was available.

The world NEEDS more of this level of thinking. And not but.

Harry Weese did this in my town 60 years ago.

Learning to build comes natural to many.

Brilliant and because people are part of the creative process they will have pride in their work...why aren't more countries following his example? Of course we who were against it at the time said that would happen but whenever did that witch Thatcher ever listen to anyone?

The design is fabulous, though the lack of market comprehension is to be expected....

Like the idea, 'half a house'

Very smart . I currently live in the USA and I paid $12K for my house. I was going to buy rural to have freedom to build as I please. It will suck having to deal with city planners but the convince should be worth it. Every thing I need is less than half mile away. Walmart, gym, Dr office, movie theater, hospital , waffle House.

I thought this was a great idea until the end when Jeff Self said they tried a similar idea in Thatcher. Those houses, like he said, are too expensive for most people to afford now - just like all the other houses. So, programs like these are wonderful but apparently are only temporary. The extraordinary impossible house prices are the root of the problem. How can THAT problem be solved?

viva chile!!!!

I like the idea here, quickly built in a pinch to rehouse people displaced by an earthquake and with space to expand the property. Big problem with right to buy in the UK was that only 20% of revenue from house purchases went back to the local authority. The rest went to central government and they have a track record of spending unwisely.

I think this is a great idea.

Love the music

As a practising architect I’m not sure how well this would work in areas with high land values, most notably major cities. The cost of building materials is very low compared to the price of land - it’s the land cost in areas such as London which accounts for most of a building’s value. For example I could build a basic house for as little as 20-50k, but the cost of the land would be minimum 250k for a small plot in London.

god i love daring housing market innovations... im a fuckind dweeb

Beautiful concept & Logically sound!!!! Cudos to Alejandro Aravena !!!

I love this 💕

brilliant idea tho i feel efficiency should be top priority ...

I don’t think it looks bad, plus it provides the family a finished habitable space they can use while they gather more money to build the other half of the house. Smart.

Cool video

Nice!

But they rebuilt in the same area prone to tsunami and earthquakes? Rebuilding again will have an higher impact on the environment because they will need more supplies. Why not relocated?

This man has amazing accent - half hispanic, half RP

Genial.

So it’s a condo or townhouse? We have these all over America.

Could they not build a ground floor house only with a flat roof so you could then build up ?

If this is the future I'm just grateful I'll most likely not be alive to see it.

Nobel prize this guy deserves

I want a house like that...

Yo odio vivir en casas pareadas porque se escucha todo lo del vecino, imagínate tener vecinos pegados a ambos lados. Hell.

This is still urban sprawl and housing speculation, two major features that cause the housing crisis. :/

Wow

This is a remarkable economic concept, The pure understanding that as we accumulate wealth so we renovate and improve our houses. Why on earth aren't more low income houses built to cater for this concept?

I like the idea that people can customise their home but I'm a bit confused on how the financials work. Is this the same model as he spoke of in the UK that left those big problems after the first generation. Maybe this is only really meant for one generation as it was in response to a natural disaster not general ongoing needs for subsidised housing.

It seemed like they're saying what they did in the UK was a problem with social housing that couldn't happen with the Chilean half houses. But if the first owners expand and end up selling at market rate, then wouldn't the exact same thing happen there too? Am I missing something?

I will never deal with social housing again. Every rentor was a mess. If u can see in the video the first woman already broke the cabinets. And why is the drywall missing from above the window...

If the home is subsidized the profit should be limited. After you pay off the mortgage, you get all your money back.

Brilliant

These would be classed as low rent housing here in the UK 👍🏻 Look British government it can be done !!!!