This Building Issue highlights the concept of organized self-help housing in general and provides practical guidelines for implementing organized small-scale self-help housing projects. The role of the facilitating organization is carefully described to show how they can be successful and sustainable. The conclusions are mainly based on the authors' involvement in organized small-scale self-help housing projects in Bolivia, Costa Rica and Tunisia over the last 15 years. The aim of this study is not to contribute to the political debate about self-help housing, but to describe experiences of organized self-help housing projects. It is hoped that this experience will be useful for professionals and organizations who will work in this area and contribute to affordable and adequate shelter.