Clever accommodation options including pre-fab housing are now available. One concept has been delivered by Japanese retailer MUJI in 2015. They have created ‘MUJI huts,’ small streamlined pre-fabricated houses.

Read about Japan's MUJI designed affordable housing solutions

Meanwhile, architecture students across the US are creating concepts for affordable housing including the Southern California Institute of Architecture’s low-cost modern homes and Yale’s prefab homes for the homeless.

Architecture students at Kansas State University with local firm El Dorado have created a two-unit apartment building in a historic neighbourhood which is suitable for families who make less than 80 percent of the city’s average income. Each apartment is set over 725 sq ft, and is built on a concrete base. Corrugated metal is used for exterior walls and the pitched roof, with stairs leading up to a pair of terraces.

The duplexes are an economical solution for affordable housing

Inside, each apartment features open-plan living, dining, and kitchen and has glass walls and clerestory light panels for the bedrooms. 

They worked to a limited budget of $290,000, which is around $200 psf.

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