The Cost of Improving Vulnerable Housing

Recommendations for Investments in Housing Resilience from an Analysis of Global Project Data

The Cost of Improving Vulnerable Housing is a first-of-its-kind study that provides compelling evidence of the comparative advantages, cost savings, and wider benefits of improving vulnerable homes, rather than building new ones, for disaster resilience.

By leveraging Build Change’s unique vantage point following almost 20 years of making housing more resilient worldwide, the study was able to draw on close to 1,500 retrofit designs for housing from fourteen countries across Asia, the Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Through comprehensive analysis of direct construction costs for different kinds of home improvement work, it provides detailed insight into the spending and outcomes of housing investments for a range of housing typologies around the world, both in prevention and post-disaster contexts.

Our comprehensive analysis within this study reveals significant efficiencies and co-benefits inherent in targeted housing improvements. Key findings from this global study include:

Smart Resource Utilization: Discover how strategic upgrades to existing structures can offer a far more impactful and efficient alternative to new construction, extending the lifespan and protective capacity of vital housing assets. For instance, the research indicates that reinforcing a home for an additional story can be achieved at a fraction of the cost of building a new structure.
Protecting Long-Term Value: Learn how proactive, preventative measures—even post-disaster—can safeguard prior investments, ensuring enduring community stability and minimizing future economic disruption.
Holistic Community Impact: Beyond disaster mitigation, the study illuminates how these housing investments concurrently address broader community needs. It’s noted that a substantial portion of expenditure naturally flows into diverse home improvement areas, reflecting a comprehensive enhancement of living standards.

These insights offer a pathway to more impactful and resource-effective approaches to global housing challenges, fostering both resilience and widespread community benefit for all stakeholders.

Download the Key Findings Read the Full Study Executive Summary

Cite

This work may be cited as follows: The Cost of Improving Vulnerable Housing: Recommendations for Investments in Housing Resilience from an Analysis of Global Project Data. Denver, CO: Build Change, 2022.

Copyright

Build Change encourages dissemination of its knowledge, this work may therefore be reproduced, in whole or in part, for non-commercial purposes as long as no changes are made and full attribution to this work is given. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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