Despite these highly adapted local solutions, a number of factors are altering local housing and construction techniques. Firstly, increasing populations place pressure on local resources. Coupled with this, rising procurement costs of external materials and increasing labour costs, place local techniques at risk of being replaced by cheaper structures made from brick and concrete.

Poor design and construction using unfamiliar modern building materials, often result in buildings which are energy-inefficient, hard to heat and less durable than many traditional methods.