“Real Value Housing helped me find a place that my family and I could call home, and it was well below current market value. I couldn’t believe my luck!” – John Smith, Father of four

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The Real Value of Housing

Habitat for Humanity

As property prices sky-rocket in Australia, we think we know the value of housing. But for the 500 million people living in urban slums across Asia, a simple house means more than you might think.

1 billion people live in inadequate housing

How can we change the story?
 
  1. 1

    The Problem

    Around the world, 1 in 7 people live in inadequate housing or are homeless. That’s 1 billion people. Half of those are our neighbours, living in urban slums in the Asia Pacific region.

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    Everyday, Asian cities grow at a rate of nearly 120,000 new residents and need an extra 20,000 houses.

    However, as land and building materials are expensive, low-income families tend to use cheap materials and build fewer rooms to accommodate their households, resulting in overcrowding and lack of durability. Without a durable home to withstand the elements, families are vulnerable to natural disasters such as flooding, fires and earthquakes.

    Inadequate housing is also characterised by:

    • A lack of access to basic services and utilities such as water, sanitation and electricity
    • Insecure land tenure
    • The threat of forced eviction.
  2. 2

    The Solution

    Preventing and replacing inadequate housing provides families with the opportunities they need to overcome the circumstances that allow poverty to fester: a lack of clean water, sanitation or access to education.

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    When it comes to building a home in the developing world, 50 to 90 percent of construction is done in incremental or progressive stages.

    Building a home incrementally allows families to save their money and gradually put it toward improving their home. Housing microfinance, consisting of small, non-mortgage backed loans, along with construction and other support services, allows families to progressively add value to their home and address housing problems.

    This puts in motion changes that will improve quality of life and speed up construction of adequate housing. To find out more about the steps to adequate housing, check out the Housing Value Chain.

    The Housing Value Chain »
  3. 3

    The Impact

    The causes of poverty are complex; a lack of opportunity and access to education, employment, healthcare or nutrition can all lead to or create conditions of poverty. But housing alone can have lasting positive impact on every area of life.

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    Click below to see how a home helps in different ways:

    Housing and Education
    Education
    Housing and Health
    Health
    Housing and Livelihoods
    Livelihoods
    Importance of Housing
    Impact
    Close

    Healthy homes, with cement floors, better ventilation, clean water and sanitation facilities have immediate health benefits; reducing the level of infectious and chronic illnesses for families.

    Productive homes are a place where people otherwise unable to access formal, paid employment, especially women, can make a living.

    Safe homes give children the security to go to school, clean homes give them a place to study and lights mean that can work even after the sun sets.

    To find out more about the ways one house can fight poverty, check out the infographics above!

Sarada Mother of Three

“I did all of this for my kids... my happiness is to provide them with proper education and raise them well.”

What is the impact of housing on Sarada's family?

Sarada is a single mother of three young girls. Sarada never went to school as a child because her parents didn’t see the value in educating daughters.

When Sarada’s young husband died, she was left with two young daughters and very little money. She had spent everything they had saved to find a cure for her dying husband. She had never been to school, and never worked a skilled job. But she was determined.

Sarada wanted her daughters to have the best chance at life. She worked two jobs, day and night, to earn enough money to send them to school. She raised livestock to supplement their income and, with the help of Habitat for Humanity, saved enough to build her family a safe, secure and clean home.

Her hard work was worth it; “I have no more worries about the house,” she says “They will be safe in the house that I built...my daughters will be independent and stand on their own feet. I want to prove that daughters are equal to sons.”

When Sarada looks at her home, she sees more than bricks and mortar, but a chance for a full life for her daughters; “My happiness is to provide them with proper education and raise them well. I want to fulfil the wish of my husband and make him proud.”

Sarada’s success has come through hard work, sacrifice and a helping hand from Habitat for Humanity. But there are many families across the Asia Pacific who do not have access to the tools and support they need to provide for their children’s future.

Spread the word

In Australia, a safe home with a locking door, running water and a secure roof overhead is something we take for granted. For many around the world these realities are scarce. Help spread the message of the real value of housing.



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