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ABSTRACT This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of the nature of the self-help housing market by analysing its extent and mode of operation in four self-help settlements in the intermediate sized city of Pereira, Colombia. The evidence from the survey settlements suggests that the market for self-help houses is small. Self-help settlements are dominated by a land market rather than by a housing market, although the distinction between the two is far from clear cut. Few self-help houses enter the property market because: many self-help households have no intention of selling their house after all the hard work that went into building it; it is difficult for households who wish to purchase dwellings in self-help settlements to raise the necessary finance; and the lack of title deeds is probably also a limiting factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]