The Decent House

Shelter and housing supply is the greatest burden for both executives and planners. It is not only to create provisions for developments and construction, but to adopt the supply channels to people’s earnings and financials.

For the Public Servants; there are moral and executive obligations to provide the public with decent housing. Real Estate sector in any balanced stable economy will represent 15-20% of the GDP. Spending on Real Estate will fairly consume 30% of anyone’s budget and income. The rank on the ladder of Property Ownership is the most significant estate a person would proudly have.

There are important classifications and definitions related to “The House” from a Real Estate context:

1. Dwelling: means any building or structure can be used as a home
2. House: is the place for residence or refuge
3. Townhouse: is a type of small footprint and medium-density housing in cities
4. Apartment: is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building
5. Condominium: is the form of housing tenure where a specified part is individually owned
6. Loft: refers to large adaptable open space, which includes upper open areas
7. Penthouse: is an apartment on the highest floor and typically differentiated by luxury features
8. Mansion: is a very large sprawling dwelling house
9. Cottage: is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location

Other forms which typical have insignificant real estate value, and can’t be called “House”:

1. Hut: are temporary shelter that are quickly built of readily available materials
2. Shack: is small cheaply made house, usually in a state of disrepair
3. Shade: is the blocking of sun light and heat by any object, in temperate and tropical zones
4. Tent: is a shelter from sheets of fabric draped over frame of poles and supporting rope

The “Decent House” for a family is never a Single Room, for many practical and convenient reasons. This fact draws the divide between nomads and others. Nomadic house is just a temporary shelter, which is continuously reshaped as per environment, climate and landscape. On the contrary, the “Decent House” is a permanent structure driven by cost, bylaws and amenities. Worldwide, there is great number of social attributes associated with the “Decent House”

Notably, availability of independent or shared utilities, sanitary or service facilities doesn’t affect the purpose of the “Decent House”. Certainly there are limits of decency associated with structuring of those utilities.

Islamically, there are “Four” provisions that a “Decent House” is indispensably required for:

1. Family Privacy apart from general sight and hear of others
2. Parents Privacy for their three predefined times during a day and night
3. Female Privacy for their uninterrupted personal and religious activities
4. Adolescence Privacy which contentedly separates Females from Males

Muslim City Managers and Public Executives should know that ignoring or mishandle these "Decent Housing" parameters; is an involuntary religious violation leading to unrecoverable family misappropriation and fragmentation.