The cost of improving vulnerable housing: Recommendations for investments in housing resilience from an analysis of global project data

This paper analyzes the cost of improving vulnerable housing and gives recommendations for investments in housing resilience from an analysis of global project data. Following the implementation and development of hundreds of home improvement designs from Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, data was compiled and analyzed to understand the cost of home improvement and how spending is allocated across different kinds of interventions, specifically Structural Condition Repairs, Habitability Upgrades, Disaster Mitigation Measures and Finishings and Growth. Cost data was compared across different building typologies, hazards, contexts and structural performance objectives, and overall costs compared with the relative cost of new construction. The data highlights many reasons why preventatively improving vulnerable housing for health and safety before the next disaster is not only crucial but a smart, cost-effective investment, including compared to the alternative of building new housing.

The key findings and recommendations of the paper include, among others:

• Improving vulnerable housing is a cost-effective strategy to reduce the qualitative housing deficit, especially when compared to new construction.
• In many cases, investments in improving vulnerable housing can be further leveraged to safely densify housing and cost-effectively create new housing units.
• Home improvement investments address multiple challenges: Homes can be made more resistant to disasters, while supporting other goals linked to increased household resilience.
• Improving housing before—rather than after—a disaster, is a smarter, more cost-effective investment.
• The cost of improving housing varies greatly depending on the level of performance that is targeted.