IDB Forum Puts Latin America and Caribbean’s $1.4 Trillion Housing Needs in Focus

The study’s findings place overcrowding, basic services, tenure security and connections to urban opportunities at the center of the discussion

For many families across Latin America and the Caribbean, the housing crisis means living in an overcrowded home, lacking basic services or facing uncertainty about their right to stay. A new Inter-American Development Bank study finds that 78% of the region's housing deficit involves inadequate conditions, insecure tenure and poor connections to the surrounding city, revealing how much of the challenge lies in improving homes and neighborhoods that already exist.

The IDB Group is bringing together more than 3,500 government officials, business leaders, experts and representatives of international organizations at the Fourth Regional Housing Forum 2026, with participation in person and online. Discussions focus on exchanging practical experience, attracting investment, and building partnerships to expand access to adequate, resilient, and inclusive housing, with solutions that reflect households' different circumstances across the region.

Making existing homes safer and more livable

Demographic changes, shifts in employment, and urban transformation continue to shape the region's persistent housing deficit, creating needs that new construction alone cannot address. The study's findings place overcrowding, basic services, tenure security and connections to urban opportunities at the center of the discussion. Understanding these conditions gives policymakers and investors a clearer basis for deciding where home improvements, neighborhood investment and additional housing are most needed.

Participants were introduced to a new methodology for measuring the housing deficit and the Housing and Urban Intelligence hub, developed in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The platform brings together key indicators on housing, urban development and territorial systems, supporting a more detailed understanding of local needs. Both tools are intended to help governments and investors make decisions based on evidence and direct resources toward the problems households actually face.

Meeting an investment need beyond government budgets

Improving existing homes and building the additional housing the region requires would cost approximately US$1.4 trillion, according to IDB Group President Ilan Goldfajn. He said governments could not meet that investment need on their own, calling for better policies, greater private capital participation and stronger efforts to turn knowledge and partnerships into projects that reach families. The forum provides a setting for public institutions, businesses and development partners to explore how those projects can move forward.

Since 2023, the IDB has financed more than US$1 billion in public-sector housing projects, and IDB Invest has approved or structured more than US$750 million through work with banks, developers and capital markets. These activities reflect the different financing channels available to support housing across the region, from public investment to partnerships involving private lenders and developers. Mobilizing investment at a much larger scale remains central to addressing the needs described at the forum.

Turning regional discussions into housing priorities

More than 30 ministers and senior housing and urban development officials are expected to join the Regional Housing Policy Dialogue on October 2, bringing the forum's technical discussions into a high-level policy setting. Convened by the IDB Group as the culmination of the agenda, the dialogue is designed to translate shared experience and analysis into concrete priorities and actions that governments can take forward.

The gathering strengthens regional cooperation around housing challenges that cross national borders but require responses suited to local households and communities. Through its role as a development partner and convener, the IDB Group is connecting policymakers with expertise, financing discussions and potential partners to support solutions that can be implemented and expanded across Latin America and the Caribbean.