Low-cost houses are needed to face the demand for living space in the emerging markets in Africa and the Middle East. Desert sands cannot be used for common concrete. The lack of suitable sands and the high carbon footprint of cement have put the focus of research on new mixtures of polymer concrete. The application of desert sands for polymer concrete could help building up new cities creating local value added chains. Polymer concretes are used for special purpose e.g. sewage pipes for chemical plants or retention pots for chemicals. Benefits are the chemical resistance and the high strength compared to common concrete products. The composite material consists of 87 wt% quartz sands in predefined particle sizes mixed with a polyester resin. The resin is accelerated for cold hardening. Desert sands in a local production cannot be selected by particle size and particularly contain parts of salts and metals. These substances slow or even prevent the hardening reaction. The resin mixture of ground resin, hardener, inhibitor and accelerator must be adapted to the local sand composition. The content of metallic ions as well as the humidity of 12 sands were characterized. In rheometer experiments the slope of the viscosity during the hardening were examined. The resin recipe was alternated to find advantageous mixtures. A cobalt accelerator and a cobalt-amine accelerator were used. A multidimensional regressions analysis enabled to detect the substances slowing the reaction. The cobalt-amine hardener showed excellent reaction rates also at high metallic ion contents. Mechanical tests showed compression strengths equal to concrete used for houses. A system for building houses and a mobile production system were developed. Z-formed bricks can be produced locally and stacked by non-skilled workers creating local employment. A production mold with a breathing core was designed. Cycle times under 30 seconds providing enough bricks for 8 houses per day can be produced.