Informal Economy - Informal Housing

Informal Housing

The term informal housing can include any form of shelter or settlement (or lack thereof) which is illegal, falls outside of government control or regulation, or is not afforded protection by the state. To have informal housing status is to exist in ‘a state of deregulation, one where the ownership, use, and purpose of land cannot be fixed and mapped according to any prescribed set of regulations or the law.’ While there is no global unified law of property ownership typically, the informal occupant or community will lack security of tenure, and with this ready or reliable access to civic amenities (potable water, electricity and gas supply, sanitation and waste collection). Due to the informal nature of occupancy, the state will typically be unable to extract rent or land taxes.

The term informal housing is useful in capturing informal populations other than those living slum settlements or shanty towns, which are defined more narrowly by the UN Habitat as ‘contiguous settlement where the inhabitants are characterizes as having inadequate housing and basic services..often not recognised or addressed by the public authorities an integral or equal part of the city”.

Common categories or terms for informal housing include slums, slum settlements, shanty towns, squats, homelessness and pavement dwellers.