Background Information

The need to design and construct affordable housing in America is urgent. Twenty-five percent of all American households face severe housing problems. Among these are lack of sufficient funds for monthly payments, maintenance, and repairs; overcrowding, both within individual dwellings and in high-density multi-family developments; and structural deficiencies.
These 30 million households include not just the poorest individuals and those without jobs, but also teachers, librarians, firefighters, health-care workers, and many others who make significant contributions to our communities.

Figure 1 H.U.D. Banner

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the generally accepted criteria of affordability is that a household pays no more than 30% of its annual income on housing. In many localities across America, an increasing number of families are earning less than 50% of the median income in their respective area, assuming they spend no more than 30% of their income for housing.

Figure 2 H.U.D. SEAL

The economic expansion of the 1990s obscured certain trends and statistics that point to an increased, not decreased, need for affordable housing. Families who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered cost burdened and may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care. An estimated 12 million renter and homeowner households now pay more then 50 percent of their annual incomes for housing, and a family with one full-time worker earning the minimum wage cannot afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States.


The lack of affordable housing is a significant hardship for low-income households preventing them from meeting their other basic needs, such as nutrition and healthcare, or saving for their future and that of their families. (HUD)

Research will be conducted on the guidelines established for affordable housing. After sufficient information is collected, brainstorming for a single family home will begin. Several floor plans will be drawn and finalized, and one solution shall be chosen. An architectural model will be constructed based off of the final floor plans. An understanding and aptitude for the process of architectural design, development of plans, and basic modeling techniques will be demonstrated throughout the course of the project.

Figure 3 Floor Plan