The struggle to obtain decent, affordable housing could affect at least 1.6 billion people globally within a decade, leaving more than a third of all urban dwellers in unsafe or inadequate housing or financially stretched by housing costs. The four levers that we lay out in this report, combined with effective local delivery, can bring decent homes within reach of hundreds of millions of households and narrow the affordable housing gap.

Affordable housing is a global challenge for cities in both developing and advanced economies. Based on a broadly accepted definition of affordable housing, 330 million urban households around the world today lack decent housing or are so financially stretched by housing costs that they forgo other basic needs, including food, health care, and schooling for children.