California firms Brooks + Scarpa and Plant Prefab have unveiled a low-cost housing concept for fallow urban sites, which comprise prefabricated, modular units that can be arranged in various configurations. More about Nest "toolkit" can be used to build homeless shelters and supportive housing
A spectrum of vivid hues were incorporated throughout a mixed-use building in Chicago by John Ronan Architects that contains a public library at ground level and low-cost senior housing up above. More about John Ronan creates affordable housing in Chicago with colourful balconies and a library
In our latest competition, we've teamed up with architectural think-tank Bee Breeders to offer five readers the chance to win a copy of its publication addressing issues of affordable housing. More about Competition: win a book about affordable housing ideas from Bee Breeders
This proposal for low-cost housing by Mexican studio Zeller & Moye features a simple module, made from concrete and adobe brick, that can be easily expanded according to residents' needs. More about Zeller & Moye designs modular social housing concept Casa Hilo for rural Mexico
Tatiana Bilbao, Frida Escobedo and Fernanda Canales are among 32 architects and studios that have created low-cost housing designs as part of an innovative community development in Hidalgo, Mexico. More about Experimental Mexican community contains social housing by Tatiana Bilbao and Frida Escobedo
Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects has built social housing in Los Angeles featuring a green roof, herb garden, a community centre and retail spaces to foster wellness and community for those in need. More about LOHA tops MLK1101 housing for Los Angeles' homeless with sloped green roof
Fraser Brown MacKenna Architects has obtained planning permission for a development of micro homes made from shipping containers with green roofs in Aylesbury, England. More about Shipping-container micro homes with green roofs planned for UK
New York firm SO-IL has envisioned a six-storey, concrete apartment building for León, Mexico, which is meant to offer an alternative solution for the country's low-cost housing shortage. More about SO-IL designs affordable housing for urban centre in growing Mexican city
Kanye West's prefabricated affordable Yeezy Home units take inspiration from the Star Wars films and might be used as underground homeless housing. More about Kanye West is building Star Wars-themed housing for the homeless
Affordable developer BoKlok, which is co-owned by IKEA and Skanska, has signed a deal with Worthing council in West Sussex to build low-cost housing in the south of England. More about IKEA is bringing its low-cost modular housing units to the UK
The final instalment of our Dezeen x MINI Living video series features a proposal by Bartlett graduate Lianjie Wu for affordable homes that are left unfinished, for residents to complete themselves. More about Lianjie Wu designs affordable homes that are deliberately left unfinished
Two shipping containers are joined together and topped by an angular polycarbonate extension in this conceptual design for low-cost housing by Peruvian firm TRS Studio. More about TRS Studio envisions shipping containers as affordable housing in Peru
American firm Office of Jonathan Tate has completed a cluster of sculptural white homes on an urban New Orleans site that are meant to attract buyers on a limited budget. More about OJT completes sculptural affordable housing in New Orleans
Designer Yves Béhar has revealed plans to build 3D-printed houses for an impoverished farming community in Latin America. More about Yves Béhar designs "world's first 3D-printed community" for Latin America
Tiny homes, an apartment building and a boarding house make up the Virginia Placer development, which Charles Cunniffe Architects has designed for a Rocky Mountain community in Colorado with a dearth of low-cost housing. More about Charles Cunniffe Architects completes affordable housing complex in Colorado ski town
Concrete-lined living spaces extend out onto angular balconies at this low-cost housing block in Zurich, designed by locally based studio Gus Wüstemann. More about Gus Wüstemann creates affordable apartment block almost entirely from concrete
Opposite Office has proposed redesigning and extending London's Buckingham Palace to create the Affordable Palace where 50,000 people would co-habit with the queen. More about Opposite Office redesigns Buckingham Palace as co-living space for 50,000 Londoners
We've updated our Pinterest board dedicated to low-cost housing solutions, with new additions including MDRDV's mountainous structure in India and a cuboidal concrete family home in Portugal. Follow Dezeen on Pinterest ›
More about Find innovative examples of low-cost housing on our Pinterest board
Dutch firm MVRDV has completed an enormous apartment building in the Indian city of Pune, featuring a series of connected blocks with sloping roofs, which branch out to enclose multipurpose courtyards. More about MVRDV's "mountainous" Future Towers provides low-cost accommodation in India
Argentinian architecture studios Nomada and Eypaa have created a row of five low-cost apartments blocks for school teachers in Córdoba, Argentina. More about Affordable brick housing built for Argentinian teachers