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In Sri Lanka only the relatively well-off can consider buying a house as the prices for land and dwellings are quite high compared to the average worker's income. Many places in the country families live in cramped and poor conditions. A high percentage of houses in Sri Lanka are mud-walled and mud-floored, and in coastal areas a high number of the population live in thatched houses or houses made of wood planks and metal sheets. Most fishing communities have no toilet facilities or safe drinking water. Hundreds of thousands of plantation workers and their families have lived for generations in dwellings know as “lines”—long huts divided into small rooms, one for each family. More than 60 percent of housing does not have proper protection against the elements. Particularly in Colombo there are spacious and wealthy mansions with well-groomed gardens and complexes of luxury flats with access to swimming pools, playgrounds and shops. A flat like that would cost more than two years wages for an ordinary labourer. |
Houses in Forte area of Colombo with World Trade Centre behind | 
Buildings in Forte area of Colombo | 
View over Colombo |
Houses by the coast in Galle with lighthouse in the background | 
Houses and street in Colombo |
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