Habitat for Humanity International unveiled the next phase of its MicroBuild initiative, which has helped to mobilize $1.22 billion for affordable housing finance and directly supported over 236,000 families to build or improve their homes. 

It is estimated that 2.8 billion people live in inadequate housing, including 1 billion people in can be described as slums and informal settlements. 

The announcement is a new Commitment to Action and comes as part of the 2024 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting and includes mobilizing a diversity of resources to address the affordable housing need across 30 countries in the Global South, impacting at least an additional 171,000 families’ access to affordable housing finance solutions.

“Having demonstrated the viability of affordable housing finance, our expansion of the MicroBuild initiative is aimed at demonstrating the scalability of these products and strengthening the enabling environment to help reach low-income families at scale,” said Jonathan Reckford, chief executive officer at Habitat for Humanity International. “There is a real and substantial opportunity for philanthropists, impact investors, commercial investors, policymakers, businesses and social sector entities to contribute to developing and advancing solutions for low-income households to access safe and resilient housing.” 

The new commitment builds upon the MicroBuild Fund, which demonstrated the business case and social impact of housing microfinance loans. Announced in 2010, also at a Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, the MicroBuild Fund was the first impact investment fund in the world to focus exclusively on addressing the global housing need by expanding access to affordable housing finance. With the initiative’s expansion, Habitat for Humanity aims to influence investors, regulators and mission-driven agencies to strengthen enabling environments for the advancement of affordable housing finance as an asset class.  

“In this next phase, Habitat for Humanity will focus on supporting financial institutions to develop affordable housing finance products that enable greater inclusivity and climate resiliency,” said Jacqueline Innocent, chair of the MicroBuild Fund board of directors. “This effort is more critical than ever, as global conflict, climate-related disasters and rapid  urbanization continue to exacerbate the seemingly intractable housing need.” 

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