Housing poverty in Argentina

540 families served in FY18
877 volunteers hosted in FY18
Projects: construction, renovation & energy upgrade

Since 2002, we have been addressing housing poverty in Argentina by mobilising people and resources to promote access to adequate housing.

We have provided 1,000 housing solutions and over 4,000 training events on generating integral and sustainable solutions.

Investing in the future of Argentina

For the past four decades, Argentina has gone from crisis to crisis, from the military dictatorship of the late 1970s to hyperinflation in the late ’80s and the economic crash of 2001.

This has contributed to a culture unused to saving for the long term, and an economic environment where loans are not easy to come by.

Almost 3.5 million households — more than 10 million people — are facing housing problems.

The 2010 Census

Nearly 50% of the houses in Argentina don’t have potable water and sewage systems connected to the public network.

2 million people live in slums near Buenos Aires.

Overcrowding in the city (1/3 of the population live in the metropolitan area) mean that the housing problems are concentrated in that urban zone.

How we address housing poverty in Argentina

As of 2014, we have completed over 1,000 housing solutions and empowered more than 4,000 families through workshops and technical or legal assistance.

Additionally, our team has successfully advocated for pro-poor policies in several fields, including secure land tenure and exemptions from certain municipal obligations for low-income family housing. They have also advocated for the city of Buenos Aires to include rental housing as a solution in its housing policy.

Through three of our impact programmes, we promote sustainable solutions to human and community development.

Key facts and figures

Capital: Buenos Aires
Proclaimed independence: July 9, 1816
Population: circa 46.2 million
Urbanisation: 92.3 %
Life expectancy: 78.31 years
Unemployment rate: 9.84 %
Population living below poverty line: 35.5 %

From the Seed House to Neighbourhood Development

This project empowers families to manage the construction of their “seed house” — a core house with a foundation for a full house — training them to manage budgets, masons and volunteers. In addition, families are trained to work toward their neighbourhood’s development beyond our own intervention.

Remote Communities and Disaster Response

This project, carried out purely by volunteers, serves families in small, inaccessible communities in the interior of the country, offering repairs and hope after floods or other disasters. It also provides improvements related to health issues such as Chagas’ disease.

Groups of volunteers have been to Salta, Jujuy, Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Río Negro and San Juan.

Recycling Urban Homes for Assisted Rents

This programme purchases dilapidated buildings and turns them into decent rental apartments, providing an innovative housing solution for inner cities. It also helps provide access to formal leasing markets for families who have been making informal payments in inadequate conditions.

This is implemented in the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of La Boca.