MANILA, October 6, 2026 - (ACN Newswire) - The cost of housing is forcing millions of people into difficult trade-offs, at the expense of food, healthcare, financial security and major life decisions. That’s according to Home at What Cost? new global research from Habitat for Humanity International, which draws on nationally representative surveys in 22 countries, including Australia, Indonesia, Nepal and South Korea, and the views of more than 30,000 people.Three in 4 people (75%) say they have cut back on at least one expense in the past year to afford housing costs, rising to 89% among people living in informal arrangements and 85% among lower-income groups. One-third (33%) have spent less on food, 32% have dipped into savings or emergency funds, 31% have taken on extra work, and 13% have delayed or avoided medical care. Nearly half (48%) say one unexpected problem could threaten their ability to stay housed, 40% accept some level of housing risk because safer options are out of reach, and 56% say the housing system in their country is broken.
“A home should never come at the cost of your health or your future. It should be the foundation of health, opportunity and financial security. Yet more than half of people believe the housing system in their country is broken or simply isn't working for them,” said Jonathan Reckford, chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity International. “We cannot accept a future where people have to lower their expectations for what a home should provide. The research shows why we need governments, businesses and communities to work together to create housing systems that help people build a future instead of simply surviving the present.”
In Asia-Pacific, the hidden cost is climate resilience
Across the four countries surveyed in Asia-Pacific, 38% say extreme weather makes it hard to feel safe where they live, the highest of any region. Thirty-nine percent expect extreme weather to make living where they are harder over the next three years, against 30% globally. For some, housing costs stand in the way of preparing their homes. Across the 22 countries surveyed, one in six people (16%) have delayed or avoided home improvements that would reduce the effects of extreme weather because of housing costs. In Nepal, that figure is 35%. The UN Environment Programme identifies Asia-Pacific as home to eight of the ten countries most vulnerable to disasters.
“A home cannot withstand a storm if a family cannot afford to repair the roof, strengthen the walls or improve drainage. Across Asia-Pacific, housing affordability is increasingly a resilience issue. Families cannot make the improvements they need if housing costs have already exhausted the resources they have available,” said Elizabeth Satow, Habitat for Humanity International’s area vice president for Asia and the Pacific. “Climate adaptation is not only an engineering or structural challenge. It is an affordability, housing finance, and systems challenge. If we want homes that can withstand worsening climate risks, resilience must be something ordinary households can afford and access.”
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