World Habitat

World Habitat, an independent UK-based charity founded in 1976 by social housing pioneer Peter Elderfield (originally as the Building and Social Housing Foundation), drives global access to safe, decent, affordable, and sustainable housing for the world's most marginalised people. Rebranded to reflect its international scope, it champions innovation, collaboration, environmental responsibility, and social justice to combat housing injustice at the nexus of climate, inclusion, and empowerment. Operating in over 90 countries, its flagship World Habitat Awards celebrate and scale transformative solutions like net-zero retrofits, community land trusts, post-disaster rebuilding, and climate-resilient shelters, prioritising projects tackling homelessness, informal settlements, forced evictions, inadequate infrastructure, and vulnerabilities among older adults, displaced people, and urban poor.

It funds community-driven initiatives that amplify agency, catalyse policy change, and deliver scalable impact for at-risk groups, supporting grassroots collectives, social enterprises, cooperatives, NGOs, local authorities, and academic institutions worldwide with no geographic, income, or religious restrictions—focusing on quality, innovation, and evidence of community participation over organisational size.

Unsolicited applications are welcomed annually via online form (open 8 January to 2 March 2026, midnight GMT), undergoing multi-stage review including shortlisting, documentation requests, expert evaluation, and potential site visits; two gold winners receive £10,000 each, with silver/bronze gaining networking and knowledge transfer. Unlike traditional grantmakers, World Habitat emphasises catalytic knowledge-sharing, peer learning, and replication over core or operational funding, excluding unsustainable projects lacking equity or community buy-in—distinguishing it as a global convener scaling proven housing solutions for systemic reform.