FAQ - Housing

1. Why do my houses disappear a short while after I place them?

First, check if you have a road touching the housing plots you just laid down. If you do have a road, there's something else you might want to check: can immigrants reach the place? If you try to place the houses on a body of land that's separated from the Empire road, they will disappear after a while.

2. My houses say the appeal of the area has to be increased. What does that mean and how do I increase it?

Appeal is the term used to describe how well the people in a particular house like the surrounding scenery.
Increasing the appeal can be done by either build aesthetic things like gardens, statues, parks and flowering trees around the house or by deleting nearby buildings who have a negative influence on the desirability of the area, such as industries, warehouses and forts. Another thing you can do is place residential walls between your industrial area and your houses: residential walls block the negative appeal from the industries.

3. Why can't I place elite housing?

To place elite houses, be sure that you have at least one load of hemp and one load of ceramics in your warehouses, Elite houses need 1 load of each when you build them. Also, be sure the surrounding in which you want to build the house is desirable enough: put grand/imperial ways, statues and gardens around the spot where you want to place the house.
If you still can't build it, check if you're stockpiling either hemp or ceramics, see question Commerce#7 for more details.