IMPACT
The impact of affordable, safe housing
Habitat for Humanity is a worldwide, grass-roots movement. There are more than 2,100 active affiliates in 100 countries, including all 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico.
Improving affordable homeownership leads to numerous outcomes that extend beyond the house. In the U.S., these include greater economic stability, access to quality education, increased civic and social engagement, better health, and a reduced environmental footprint.
Economic Stability
We invest in people’s futures when we invest in housing.
All future Habitat homeowners complete a financial education program that helps them build a solid foundation for long-term personal success. Habitat keeps homes affordable through vehicles such as low-interest mortgages and small loans, volunteer labor and greater energy efficiency.
Greater affordability has a lasting impact. The money saved on housing often is invested in training, education and other enrichment opportunities.
Safer Neighborhoods
Putting down roots, renovating property and investing in communities also helps entire neighborhoods grow and become safer for everyone. Neighborhoods where residents stay put for a long time tend to be associated with lower crime rates, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Communities and networks of support form whenever residents come together to build and improve the places they call home.
Education
Children of low-income homeowners are 11% more likely to graduate from high school and are 4.5% more likely to complete post-secondary education than children of low-income renters.
Homeowners can leverage their housing wealth to finance post-secondary education for their children, especially lower and moderate-income households. For lower and moderate-income households, a $10,000 increase in housing wealth raises the probability of college attendance by 14%.
Health
Decreasing housing costs for cost-burdened households (those spending more than half of their household expenditures on housing) releases resources to spend on nutritious food and health care and limits overcrowding to minimize the spread of respiratory infectious diseases.
Civic and Social Engagement
Homeowners are more likely to vote in local elections than renters in comparable neighborhoods, and this likelihood increases with the degree of neighborhood disadvantage in low-income urban areas.
Regardless of the length of time they have owned a home, homeowners are 1.3 times more likely to become involved in a neighborhood group and to join a civic association than renters. The increased participation in neighborhood groups holds true in low-income neighborhoods as well.
Sustainability
Habitat’s sustainable development practices help reduce the cost of living for homeowners, help mitigate effects of climate change and help reduce risk of disaster damage.
For older single-family homes, weatherization reduces low-income households’ total energy costs by 12.4% within the first year. This is substantial given that low-income households have higher energy burdens, spending three times the share of their annual income (7.2%) on energy costs as compared with other households (2.3%).
The combination of proper land use, holistic site selection, use of appropriate technology, use of culturally sensitive materials and sustainable construction practices work together to make houses and homeowners more resilient.