“Affordable Housing Shortages: A Global Challenge Impacting Migrant Reception and Integration”

Institutional investors have bought millions of homes and apartment buildings in the US and taken them out of the market of individual buyers. Companies acquired more than 13% of all residential purchases in 2021. This follows a struggling recovery from a steep construction decline during the Great Recession of 2007-09, while higher interest rates are bringing building costs even higher.

Immigrants, by and large, increase local economies and appreciate home values within neighborhoods, despite pricey housing. As revealed by research by Americas Society/Council of the Americas and the Partnership for a New American Economy, from 1970 through 2010, “immigrants in the United States created $3.7 trillion in housing wealth and revitalized neighborhoods that otherwise might have become associated with decay without inflating the affordability crisis.”.housing shortage crisis is driven by a multitude of factors. One significant issue is that the supply of homes has not kept pace with population growth, particularly in increasingly crowded urban areas.

Globally, the population has surged from 7 billion in 2011 to over 8 billion today. For instance, the population of Latin America and the Caribbean was approximately 394 million in 2000, but it is projected to reach 609 million by 2030. Much of this growth will occur in urban regions, where housing availability is already under pressure.

The challenges in this region are long-standing; the housing deficit increased from 38 million in 1990 to 52 million in 2000, as reported by Habitat for Humanity. Furthermore, many individuals who do have housing still lack access to essential services like water and sanitation, preventing their homes from being classified as adequate and safe.

Affordability housing shortage is one of the major high-demand issues driving the housing crisis, but other factors still include a shortage of houses supplied to the market in proportion to population growth, especially in urban areas where people have been growing more densely.

The population across the world has increased from 7 billion in 2011 to over 8 billion now. For example, while Latin America and the Caribbean had about 394 million people in the year 2000, it is estimated to be around 609 million by 2030. Much of the rise in population will occur in urban centers, where housing is already in demand.

These problems have been around for thousands of years. Habitat for Humanity documented the housing deficit to expand from 38 million in 1990 to 52 million in the year 2000. In addition, many more who already have housing lack access to water and sanitation services, thus their homes do not qualify them for being adequate and safe.

Diverse Contexts, Shared Challenge

Affordable housing shortages are perhaps one of the most obvious examples where housing crises affect refugees in Europe. Housing shortages have worsened with the inflow of 7.8 million Ukrainians following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Shortages of affordable housing have caused many Ukrainian women and children, the overwhelming majority of those displaced, to seek hospitality at first in private households and reception centers. It has proved particularly challenging to transition from these temporary solutions to stable housing.

Affordable housing shortages have resulted in the loss of thousands of Ukrainians, in the last two years, even for a short period, to homelessness. Solidarity fatigue with host communs also manifested themselves in other ways by leading to discrimination and attacks on some of the newcomers.

Affordable housing shortages also fuel the issue in Russia where 1.2 million Ukrainians have fled; the government has to give housing vouchers to some migrants who are actually contributing to price increases and frustration among local residents.

Despite an increase in border arrival conditions that have made matters worse, affordability housing shortages are visible in many U.S. cities. Even New York City, considered one of the most competitive cities of all time, has seen affordable housing shortages push median rents to a record $3,795 as of mid-2023. Only 1.4 percent of rental housing is currently available.

Affordable housing shortages have sent homeless shelter rolls doubling since spring 2022, reaching more than 92,800 in November, mainly because of over 175,000 asylum seekers from the U.S.-Mexico border.
Affordable housing shortages overwhelm shelter system, leaving many migrants to sleep on streets, in subways; Mayor Eric Adams declares existential crisis with fiscal impacts.

Affordable housing shortages are adding to the problem because the city’s right-to-shelter policy forces the government to open its doors. The city said last month it would cap how long those new arrivals have to stay: 30 days for single people and 60 days for families.

Affordable housing shortages mean that though the migrants can apply for shelter, they spend many days in a queue, almost homeless. The city is providing free one-way tickets to other destinations as a gesture of kindness.

Affordable housing shortages, the other is holding up increased refugee admissions under the formal U.S. resettlement system for the Biden administration. After record low resettlement numbers in recent years and under the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration sought to resettle 125,000 refugees per year from FY 2022 to FY 2024, though actual numbers far short of that goal so far.

Affordable housing shortages have put organizations working alongside the US resettlement system in a precarious position: to grow in capacity to support new arrivals. Although NGOs supportive of improved resettlement exist, these also call for adequate staff and resources to find and offer housing.

The U.S. resettlement system has Federal and local funds committed to refugees arriving in the country with little appreciation for increases in the cost of housing which leaves open the gap with affordable housing shortages.

Affordable Housing Shortage
A lack of credit history, refugees’ dependence on federal funding and the presence of income prerequisites or absence of standardized rental papers make some landlords unwilling to lease to refugees.

The influx of nearly 2.9 million displaced Venezuelans has exacerbated affordable housing shortages in Colombia. Many face discrimination and pay above-market rents, ending up in unsafe living conditions. The country faces a housing deficit affecting around 3.7 million households, which is approximately a quarter of its population.

This lack of affordable housing has sparked tensions with overseas buyers, who buy housing stock frequently at the expense of driving locals out. Portugal, one of the countries that boast Western Europe’s lowest average incomes, is attracting high-net-worth foreign nationals through golden visas.

Foreign investment has also exacerbated the situation of shortages in cheap housing since those willing to spend at least 280,000 euros (approximately U.S. $305,000) can earn a five-year visa and citizenship. Their demand has pushed up housing prices, and the authorities responded by closing the scheme in 2023, even though other ways of investing in obtaining residency remain open.

Housing Solutions

Affordable housing ‘s shortfalls are inspiring innovative initiatives to address the global housing crisis, particularly for migrants and displaced persons. One example is the UK’s Housing First program from the 1990s, designed to quickly house vulnerable populations, including newcomers.