Despite an outpouring of assistance from humanitarian agencies, many still live in plastic shelters as donors battle rising building costs and hunt for suitable land to relocate people.
"A 600 square foot house now costs 1.35 million rupees to build, we initially estimated only half of that cost or even less," Neville Nanayakkara, Director General of Sri Lanka Red Cross told journalists.
The government says around 68,000 homes need to come up to house those living in temporary shelters or with relatives and friends.
"The focus is now on getting those displaced to build their own homes, as opposed to donors doing it. It's faster and much cheaper," said Ramesh Selliah, Director-Housing attached to RADA, the government's tsunami rebuilding agency.
The shift to owner driven housing programmes has also excited humanitarian agencies like the Inter