( CNN ) -- Brazil might be viewed as booming emerging market , but with growth has come problems . Around 50 million Brazilians live in inadequate housing , according to the UN World Urban Forum . A recent UN Habitat report says between 85 and 90 % of the deficit is within poor families , who have been hit by soaring real estate prices , sluggish earnings growth and a swelling population . But in ond of Sao Paulo 's sprawling suburbs , one former tech entrepreneur believes he has an answer . Andrea Molinari , founder of construction firm Crinale , aims to succeed where government and construction giants have failed . His answer is houses that are quick to build , traditional in construction , and sold direct to consumers for them to develop themselves . Nimble construction . Large construction companies attempting to raise finance for construction and negotiate government bureaucracy have found themselves mired . Molinari explains that a smaller company can move faster . `` I think the core here is that we are operating in a gap where the big ones are not operating , and produce something that has huge demand , '' he tells CNN at the company 's development at São João da Boa Vista , 200 kilometers ( 124 miles ) north of Sao Paulo . The company eschews Sao Paulo city center , where Molinari says land prices make development for those on low incomes uneconomical . Instead , it snaps up plots at the rural fringes of the city , or in cities further out into Sao Paulo state . The company aims to stay `` light '' -- outsourcing infrastructure to the land developer , buying ready-to-use concrete blocks , and handing the marketing and sales to a local broker -- so it can concentrate on the construction . In doing so , Molinari claims to reduce the time from development to sale by more than 50 % . Traditional values . The houses are built to the same plan . Each is 46 square meters with a living room , two bedrooms , a kitchen and a bathroom . Each is marketed at around 150,000 Reais ( $ 63,000 ) , designed to appeal to families at the bottom end of Brazil 's growing middle class . `` We build in the traditional way we do in Brazil , which is bricks and mortar or concrete -- no plastic composites or things like that , '' says Molinari . The old-fashioned brickwork masks the progressive ideas behind it . In addition to an ambition to provide jobs for local people ( with traditional building techniques quicker to train to new workers that specialist techniques ) , Molinari hopes to build houses that aspirant buyers will be able to develop further independently . `` The important thing here is that after they own the asset they improve the asset . They generate more value in the asset , '' he says . So far Crinale has built 4,000 houses . At São João da Boa Vista , there are homes under construction and families already living on site . Molinari describes the ambition to create a `` dynamic neighborhood . '' The former banker admits the job might not boast the biggest numbers , but it has something else : . `` It 's not the most profitable business you can find . But you can build some decent scale and ... at the same time have a real impact on people 's lives . ''
In Sao Paulo , Brazil 's drastic housing shortages are turning into violence . Roberto Santos , founder of construction company Crinale , thinks he has the answer . Crinale builds traditional houses fast , and sells direct to buyers .