To build or not to build a basement?

The idea of creating a basement in residential homes has been popular since the eighties, as it was considered a new and attractive idea for many people, as it is used for storage or additional halls and rooms, or for entertainment by building swimming pools.

In today’s context, with the rising costs of construction, is building a basement a real need for Kuwaiti families, or is it just a luxury and a waste of money?

There is a trend among the younger generation, among people planning to build, to not build a basement, they do not find a basement an attractive proposition due to its high cost and the lack of actual need for it. Many of them have lived in houses that contain a basement, and they see that there is no added value in using it.

Based on this, Al-Qabas surveyed the opinions of specialists, who indicated that there is a growing trend among young people who want to build not to build a basement, due to its high cost, as it takes up about 80% of the reinforced iron and technically requires the condensation of the reinforcing iron and about 70% of the reinforced cellular concrete, as well as the use of salt-resistant concrete, and these percentages may differ according to the design of each house.

They added that building a basement is not included in the building percentage according to the Kuwait Municipality Law, which makes the decision to build it tempting for some Kuwaiti families.

At the beginning, the real estate expert and director of Al-Dulaijan Real Estate Office, Suleiman Al-Dulaijan, said, “The need to build basements began in the eighties, and recently people have started building basements to meet their needs for offices, swimming pools, or home services such as additional rooms or bathrooms. Desires and needs vary greatly.”

Al-Dulaijan explained: It is noticeable that 80 to 90% of new residential homes in housing distributions contain a basement. This percentage reflects the tendency of families to make better use of available spaces, which enhances the value of the property and increases its flexibility in meeting the needs of residents.

For his part, the official spokesman for the Al-Mutlaa Residents Committee, Eng. Khaled Al-Otaibi, said that the cost of the basement is approximate, as there are many things that determine its implementation value, such as its area, height, number of rooms it includes, services, type of air conditioning, finishing materials used, the cost of digging the soil to the foundation level, the type of soil if it is solid or if there is water at the foundation level, as its extraction requires an additional cost and the extent of the need to reinforce the sides of the excavation, but in general the cost of the basement ranges approximately from 55 thousand to 65 thousand

Regarding the Kuwaiti family’s need for a basement, Al-Otaibi said: “I do not think that Kuwaiti families actually need a basement, and undoubtedly there are those who need it because there is a family member with a disability who may need special care that can be provided with more privacy in the basement.”