Nearly one billion people scared of losing homes or land, poll finds

Almost one billion people around the world fear losing their homes or land within five years, with owners and tenants in Burkina Faso and the Philippines the most concerned, a survey of 140 nations showed on Wednesday. About one in five adults (19%) worry that their housing, fields or other land could be taken away from them in the near future, hampering their ability to invest or plan, according to the Prindex global property rights index.

A lack of formal documentation and poor implementation of land laws threaten tenure in many countries, experts say, with more than 5 billion people lacking proof of ownership, according to the Lima-based Institute for Liberty and Democracy. People in the Philippines and Burkina Faso reported the highest levels of concern, with nearly half of respondents (48% and 44%) fearing their homes could be taken away. That compared with Singapore and Rwanda, which had the lowest rates of concern in the same two regions, with 4% and 8% respectively.

The survey, conducted by U.S. polling firm Gallup and launched on Wednesday, is the largest-ever effort documenting how secure people feel about their homes and land at a global level. Although data collection was completed before the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus, housing insecurity could further increase as the easing of lockdowns in cities may lead to a rise in evictions, Childress said.

Improving land and housing security will require training and awareness campaigns for people to exercise their rights and prove property ownership, and protecting renters from evictions, the report said. For example, authorities from Colombia to Nepal are using digital evidence such as photographs to establish property claims, in particular for the estimated 70 million people who have been forced from their homes by wars, natural disasters and other events.

Nearly 170,000 people in 140 countries were questioned about ownership or tenure for the index. Prindex is an initiative of PlaceFund – a venture fund with which the Thomson Reuters Foundation has a partnership on property rights coverage – and the UK’s Department for International Development.

Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation