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In Mexico 6 million of families with income less than 5 minimum wages are a potential market; The shortage of homes for low-income people represents a niche business.

The deficit of up to six million houses for the population of the so-called Pyramid base – made up of households with lower income than five minimum wages – has aroused the interest of housing developers who are betting on self-construction as Business model, they assured specialists.

The total deficit of Mexican households amounts to nine million families, of which three million can be served by government institutions such as the Institute of the National Housing Fund for Workers (INFONAVIT) or the Housing Fund of Institute of Security and Social services of state workers (Fovissste), while for the remaining six million have begun to create alternatives.

65% of the homes built in Mexico are the product of the work of the residents themselves, according to studies of organisms released this week in the country. According to private consultancy Softec, of the million units built in the country a year, only 350,000 correspond to construction works.

According to the consultancy, this fact makes that most of the residential constructions in Mexico do not comply with legal, territorial and technical requirements. Which opens up a series of legal and security risks for its residents.

To heal this problem, social organizations such as Habitat for Humanity provide advice to what is called in Mexico self-construction of homes, so as to reduce the dangers by a poorly built structure.

The self-construction averages at 62 square meters of built area, while construction firms specializing in housing produce units with an average of 39 square meters.

The manufacturer of cement Holcim says that the total of 33 million tons of cement sold per year in Mexico, between 10 and 11 million are destined to the construction works.