The City of Johannesburg is going ahead with its plans to find a technology that will allow low-income households to build tradable dwellings in their backyard. A year ago the city asked the private sector to come up with proposals for building structures to replace backyard shacks.The city wants construction, engineering and tech companies to design structure that would comply with building regulations, generate rental income and add to the value of the household property.Research has shown that there is more growth in backyard accommodation than in housing in new informal settlements.The problem is that backyard structures are built without regard to regulations and so cannot be regarded as legally tradable assets.The proliferation of informal backyard structures has put immense pressure on water and electricity supplies, and sewerage reticulation.The city received seven proposals for regulation-compliant structures but the cheapest was priced at R40000 - unaffordable for the target market.Now the council is working in partnership with the University of Johannesburg, Slum Dwellers International and Bloomberg Philanthropies to find a better solution.The university is expected to help with the research and Slum Dwellers International will help the city better understand the complexities of the market it is trying to serve.Bloomberg has been asked to suggest how property owners could get loans with which to buy the backyard structures.Yondela Silimela, the executive director of development planning for the City of Johannesburg, said: "A substantial number of previously disadvantaged property owners do not own assets that allow them to move up the prosperity ladder."Part of what we are trying to do is enable them to use their properties not just as a home but as an asset that can be used to build wealth."She said the city was considering using alternative building materials to reduce costs and wanted various partners to play a role in uplifting the poor."We are open to proposals but it needs a different mindset. It needs property developers who can think differently about where property value resides."Exhibition sites at which property owners will be able to view the new structures will be established in the Braamfischer, Diepsloot and Orange Farm settlements...