Housing, in general, refers to the arrangement and designated use of dwellings or residential buildings together, for the public purpose of housing individuals or families under one roof, with implied social or economic meaning. As housing may be of different types, the term housing usually refers to some segment of the housing market, such as apartments, townhouses, condominiums, row homes, mobile homes, and the like. It may also be used to refer to a certain type of home, such as apartment, manufactured home, stick built home, and the like. The housing market is highly competitive and volatile. There are many kinds of housing, including residential buildings, townhouses, condominiums, row homes, mobile homes, duplexes, condos, modular homes, pre-fabricated homes, mobile homes, manufactured dwelling units, stick built houses, pre-fabricated buildings, and the like.
Housing also has a role to play in promoting social equality. Apartments and townhouses developed to cater to low income tenants serve as a catalyst to encourage and promote social equality. Housing developments have the strength of producing socially and economically mixed income neighborhoods.
Affordable housing is also a major concern of the advocates of affordable housing. They seek to provide housing on a cost-effective basis to persons with limited resources. The provision of affordable housing helps residents to achieve economic and social equality. An affordable housing project provides a sense of social justice to residents and is therefore an important component of the successful socioeconomic development of a particular community.