What is a kutcha house?

A kind of house, where the walls are made up of bamboo, mud, grass, reed, stones, thatch, straw, leaves and unburnt bricks, are known as kutcha (kuccha) houses. These are not permanent structures like flats or buildings. Kutcha houses are usually seen in rural areas or in cities where workers choose make-shift homes. Investment in a pucca house is expensive, which is why the poor opt for temporary structures.

Kutcha houses in India as per Census 2011

The highest percentage of ‘good’ houses in 2011, according to that year’s census, was in Goa (76%) and the least number of these houses was in Odisha (29.5%). However, at 5.4% which was the national average, dilapidated houses also featured in the Census 2011. West Bengal had the highest number of dilapidated houses in 2011 and Goa, the least with only 1.5%. Census 2011 also featured permanent, semi-permanent and temporary houses. Of these, the last two categories together made up for 48% of the houses.

However, there was a wide difference between rural and urban areas, in housing stock in 2011. The difference was as much as 33% in permanent houses, 20% in semi-permanent houses, 13% in temporary houses and 7.8% in serviceable and 5.2% in non-serviceable temporary houses.

See also: Flat vs House: Which is better?

Types of kutcha houses

Depending upon the material used, kutcha houses may look different from each other. However, they constitute a semi-permanent or temporary accommodation, running the risk of destruction owing to floods, cyclones, earthquakes and other natural disasters and security threats due to crime.

Materials used in kutcha houses

Here are some of the commonly-used materials, for building kutcha houses:

• Unburnt bricks
• Bamboos
• Mud
• Grass
• Reeds
• Thatch
• Loosely packed stones

Amenities in kutcha houses

Those living in kutcha houses often struggle for basic amenities, such as access to clean water, 24/7 electricity, bath/toilet facility at home or even LPG/PNG in the kitchen.

See also: What are penthouses?

Difference between kutcha and pucca house

Also read: All about PMAY-Gramin in India

Know the terms

Institutional household

A place where a group of unrelated persons live in an institution and take their meals from a common kitchen, is called an institutional household. Examples include boarding houses, messes, hostels, hotels, rescue homes, jails, ashrams, orphanages, etc.

Houseless households

Households who do not live in buildings or census houses but live in the open on the roadside, pavements, in hume pipes, under fly-overs and staircases, or in the open in places of worship, mandaps, railway platforms, etc.

Caravans

Houses on wheels, or those that can be moved from one place to another, are called caravans. Although these have all the facilities of a house, they come under the kutcha house category, because they are temporary lodging facilities.

Stilt houses

These belong to the kutcha house segment and are constructed on piles or stilts on the soil surface or on water bodies. They are mostly made of bamboo and have slanting roofs to allow water run off. These kutcha houses are prevalent in flood-prone areas as they protect against flooding.

Independent houses

One which has a separate structure and entrance with self-contained arrangements, such as living rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, latrines, store-rooms and verandas (open or closed).

Pucca houses

A pucca house is one, which has walls and roof made of burnt bricks, stones (packed with lime or cement), cement concrete, timber, etc. and the roof material may be tiles, GCI (galvanised corrugated iron) sheets, asbestos cement sheet, RBC (reinforced brick concrete), RCC (reinforced cement concrete) and timber, etc.

Semi-pucca house

A house that has fixed walls made up of pucca material but the roof is made up of the material other than those used for pucca houses.

Flats

A part of a building with one or more rooms, with self-contained arrangements and normal housing facilities like water supply, latrine, toilet, etc., which are used exclusively by the family residing therein or jointly with other families.

Slums

Compact areas of at least 300 population or about 60-70 households of poorly built congested tenements, usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities.

Igloo

These houses are also known as snow houses or snow huts. Igloos are found in Greenland and the Arctic region of Canada. People who live in Igloos are called Eskimos. Igloos are made of snow and ice blocks. Although they are made of ice, they are warm inside.

Houseboats

In India, houseboats can be found in the Dal Lake in Kashmir and in Kerala. Such boats have all the facilities of a house.

Prefab homes

Prefabricated homes are specialist dwelling types of buildings, which are manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled.

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