Data and Impact Studies

Habitat Minnesota collects data and conducts research to help policymakers understand the need and benefit of affordable homeownership and helps affiliates tell their stories of the power of homeownership through data to back up the powerful testimonials of Habitat families and volunteers through its UFF-DA (data) Report and the 2015 Homeownership Impact Study. We also share ownership research from other relevant sources as it is available. One such resources is below.

NEW! “Homeownership is Affordable Housing”

“Affordable homeownership, on the other hand, provides the kind of affordability and stability low income families need; the home gets more affordable over time, and the housing is more stable because there is no landlord to evict you. Increasing access to affordable homeownership can allow us to establish long-term solutions to the nation’s affordability crisis.”

Stay tuned for more information about this important article and corresponding infographics. 

What do the findings tell us, in total, about the impacts of a Habitat home on the lives of homeowners? 

The research suggests that Habitat’s combination of financing and financial contributions, volunteer power, services for homeowners, and homeowner sweat equity results in an improved quality of life for program participants. In doing so, the program enhances the human, social, and economic capital of our communities, resulting in benefits for all. 

Habitat homeownership:

• Contributes positively to young people’s participation in school and their academic performance.
• Increases or maintains feelings of financial security for most homeowners, enabling many of them to have more money to spend on their families than they had previously.
• Positively affects feelings of safety.
• Is associated with less use of government assistance programs.
• Tends to promote greater social connectedness and participation in community activities.
• Cost-benefit analysis indicates that all of these positive outcomes for the 2,200 Habitat homeowners in Minnesota amount to a reduction of government assistance needed by $6.4 to $9.3 million annually.