Nearly 900,000 families in Sri Lanka lack permanent houses, the Government has acknowledged.
This, in the wake of reports that there are over 100,000 temporary and unsafe houses in Sri Lanka.
Commenting on the issue to The Sunday Morning, Minister of Housing and Construction Dr. Susil Ranasinghe said that about 900,000 families in Sri Lanka did not have permanent houses and that they could be divided into several groups.
“For example, there are families where both husband and wife are working but have no house of their own and live with others in the parental house. Then there are low-income families living in temporary houses. These are the ones we mainly focus on. They are the people who need Government subsidies,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction, and Housing stated that the Government had allocated Rs. 4 billion to help low-income families living in such conditions build permanent homes, with all work expected to be completed by the end of this year.
According to the 2024 Census of Population and Housing Preliminary Report of the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS), over 100,000 occupied housing units in the country have walls made of mud and stones, and are roofed with palmyra leaves, cadjan, or straw.
Dr. Ranasinghe noted that in 2025, the Government had provided Rs. 1 million each to 3,500 low-income families to help them build houses.
“If a family was living in a house made of mud, we gave them Rs. 1 million to build a proper home. This is not a loan. They don’t have to repay this Rs. 1 million. We give them money and they build their houses. More than 2,000 of those houses have already been completed and opened,” he said.
In addition, he said that another Rs. 500 million had been allocated to assist another 500 families, including those with members with disabilities or individuals suffering from kidney disease. “We expect to complete all 4,000 houses by the end of this year,” he added.
The issue of inadequate housing continues to be a major social challenge in Sri Lanka, particularly among low-income and rural communities. Many families continue to live in makeshift shelters or overcrowded conditions without access to basic facilities such as proper sanitation, clean water, or stable roofing.