Make Adequate Housing a Global Priority

An Open Letter from Habitat for Humanity and Partners (April 21, 2026)

Dear Honorable Development Ministers, 

At a time when international development is strained by overlapping global threats, from climate shocks to economic instability and conflict, one challenge remains universal: the growing shortage of adequate and affordable housing. What was once a local concern has become a global crisis, one that requires bold, immediate action. 

Today, 1 in 3 people lack adequate housing and more than 1.1 billion live in informal settlements. Without decisive action, the number of people living without decent housing will continue to rise, quickly. Despite the scale of this crisis, housing remains continually underinvested as a tool for achieving human development gains and economic momentum. 

Housing is often treated as a downstream social issue – recognized as important but secondary. Yet housing is a core driver of economic growth, productivity and long-term resilience. 

A 2024 study by the Agence Française de Développement found that improving housing conditions advances 10 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Habitat for Humanity’s research similarly shows that comprehensively improving housing for people living in slums and informal settlements can generate measurable, transformational development outcomes, including:

• Up to 10.5% growth in GDP
• 28% increase in years of schooling
• 4% increase in life expectancy
• 42.9 million incidents of gender-based violence prevented

Despite its foundational role in economic mobility, climate resilience and human wellbeing, housing remains strikingly underrepresented in global strategies. Habitat for Humanity’s analysis finds that housing receives less than 1% of Official Development Assistance, and only 2% of national climate plans show real ambition in this area. Even countries that prioritize housing struggle to secure support. The barrier is not technical complexity — it is a failure to understand and prioritize housing within global systems. 

Housing may not have been included on this year’s development ministers’ agenda, but we encourage all G7 governments to take the necessary steps to elevate it as a catalyst for human development and economic growth. 

We urge the G7 to place housing at the heart of its development agenda by:

1. Championing housing as a crosscutting catalyst for development, recognizing its central role in driving economic growth, improving health and education outcomes, and expanding opportunities for women and marginalized communities.
2. Committing to improving how housing is measured within Official Development Assistance, ensuring that investments are visible, comparable and aligned with the scale of global need. Current measurement systems obscure the true level of support and limit effective planning.
3. Working with partner countries to expand and replicate proven housing solutions, drawing on successful approaches already present within G7 development portfolios and scaling interventions that deliver measurable economic and social returns.

The G7 can set a global precedent in bilateral and multilateral assistance that influences billions of lives. Housing is the platform for climate resilience, economic growth and human dignity. It must finally be treated as the essential priority it is.