What housing policy and research work is Habitat for Humanity involved in?

Habitat for Humanity's policy and research work centers on making housing affordability visible and on expanding pathways to homeownership. Its current public-facing work includes a global housing report, Home at What Cost?, which looks beyond traditional affordability measures to the hidden costs of housing; support for the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act; and participation in international housing discussions such as the World Economic Forum and UN-Habitat's World Cities Report. These activities sit alongside Habitat's direct work of helping families build or improve homes and pay an affordable mortgage.

Research: Home at What Cost?

Habitat describes Home at What Cost? as its new global housing report. Rather than measuring affordability only through conventional indicators, the report examines the hidden costs of housing — the sacrifices people make and the effects on health, safety, and the ability to plan for the future.

This framing matters if you are trying to understand housing need in your area or make the case for housing support. A household can appear "affordable" by a rent-to-income ratio while still absorbing serious costs in other parts of life. The report is the entry point for that argument; Habitat's site links to further detail through a "Learn more" path on the report.

Policy: the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act

Habitat states that the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is expanding pathways to homeownership, and that Habitat helped make it happen. In a related interview, Chris Vincent, vice president of government relations and advocacy at Habitat for Humanity International, called it "a first step in addressing the nation's [home] affordability challenges" and discussed the complex factors behind the growing U.S. housing affordability crisis.

Two practical takeaways for readers:

• If you want to follow or support the legislation, Habitat frames advocacy as one of its core ways to get involved, alongside volunteering and donating.
• If you are evaluating claims about the bill, treat Habitat's characterization as an organizational position. The site presents it as a bipartisan breakthrough and a first step, not as a complete solution to affordability.

International engagement

Habitat participates in broader housing conversations beyond the U.S.:

• World Economic Forum: Jonathan Reckford, Habitat's CEO, joined the World Economic Forum in a conversation arguing that housing should be reimagined not as a standalone challenge but as the foundation of healthier, more resilient, and more prosperous communities.
• UN-Habitat World Cities Report: Habitat highlights the 2026 World Cities Report, launched at the World Urban Forum in May, and summarizes five takeaways for the future of housing. The report, in Habitat's description, paints a stark picture of housing conditions.

These appearances are useful if you need a citable, high-level framing of housing as connected to health, resilience, and economic opportunity — for example, when writing a community proposal or preparing remarks for a local housing discussion.

How this connects to getting involved

Habitat's policy and research work is presented on the same site as its direct services, and the organization lists four main ways to engage: volunteer, advocate, support (donate), and shop at a Habitat ReStore. If your interest is specifically policy, advocacy is the matching channel; if your interest is local housing conditions, the site's ZIP code search finds a local Habitat near you for volunteering, shopping, and more.

One caution: the site's current campaign messaging (a matching gift extended through Oct. 16, and a Thanksgiving appeal) changes over time. Check the live page for what is active now rather than relying on any dated description.