Housing Economy Toolkit: Overview

We know that housing has an important impact on the economy – it is intuitive.  But how do we quantify it?  National statistical figures report on the impact of construction on GDP, but this includes both residential and non-residential construction, and does not include rental activity.  Percent of GDP generated from real estate is also tracked, but again, this is not disaggregated into the various real estate sub-sectors.  Further, Africa’s housing sector involves so much informal activity – from labourers paid in cash through to recycled building materials.  How can all of these be quantified to realise a ‘true’ perspective on the role that housing plays in all of its diversity?  And for housing policy makers, how can we isolate the particular impact of affordable housing?

The Housing Economy Toolkit offers an integrated set of diagnostic, modelling and decision support tools that are used to quantify, analyse, diagnose and improve the performance of a housing sector.  The underlying approach draws on economic value chain theory which has been applied to housing and adapted to the data-scarce environments in which housing is delivered in African countries.

Seven tools comprise the Housing Economy Toolkit:

The Housing Economy Toolkit can be used by different stakeholders at different scales ranging from the national sectoral level analysis to an analysis of an individual programme, project or site. The integrated nature of the methodology means that implications for public, private and non-profit organisations of specific programmes and projects can be developed. The toolkit can also be applied at sectoral, sub-sectoral, national, regional or local level, as well as at programme or project scale.   This flexible approach enables stakeholders in the housing sector to consider the potential future housing outcomes and economic impacts of strategic choices in a housing sector, programme or project. Individual tools can be applied in combination or separately depending on specific requirements.

This pamphlet summarises the approach that CAHF has been using for years as it has studied the impact of housing on the economies of so many countries across Africa.