Barriers to consumer acceptance of innovative building technologies for low-cost housing

Abstract

Low-income subsidy housing production is not satisfying the current housing need, leading to increasing backlogs and significant impacts on many poor people's health and safety. Traditional methods for producing these houses have not been sufficient for meeting the low-income housing need, particularly in aspects concerning time, cost, and quality of construction. There has been enough evidence supporting the adoption of innovative building technologies to enhance the South African government's ability to deliver low-income housing by reducing the times and costs of construction while substantially improving the quality of construction products. However, the implementation of low-income housing produced using innovative building systems has been primarily unsuccessful owing to the low levels of acceptance by South African communities. This study explored consumers’ attitudes and perceptions towards low-income housing produced using innovative building technologies. Data was collected from seventeen semi-structured interviews with potential low-income housing beneficiaries. The results showed that participants had limited knowledge about housing constructed with innovative building technologies. The lack of knowledge enhanced participants’ perceptions of risk and led them to develop negative attitudes towards the housing systems. The negative attitudes primarily were related to increased perceptions of performance, financial and psychosocial risk. However, the results also showed that participants were still willing to accept housing produced using innovative building technologies because of their potential to improve participants’ living conditions. The study contributes new knowledge to the debate about the role of innovative building technologies for improved housing delivery in South Africa. The study also helps the government, decision-makers, and stakeholders formulate effective strategies for developing and promoting housing produced with innovative building technologies.