Although World Habitat Day isn’t celebrated until later on in the year, the World Habitat Awards are open for entries.

The competition has been run in partnership with UN-Habitat since 1985, showing some of the world’s most innovative housing projects in this time. This year Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards will be presented to the most remarkable projects and programmes – with two gold winners receiving prize money of £10,000 and follow-up support from World Habitat through our exchange programme.

To be eligible for entry, your project must focus on affordable and adequate housing, have taken action to address the climate emergency, are taking steps to promote diversity and have been designed/delivered in close collaboration with the local community – all within the last 10 years.

World Habitat have said, “We particularly encourage entries from projects and programmes that are addressing the climate emergency. Other benefits of interest to us include income generation; social inclusion; community and individual empowerment; health benefits; capacity building and or education.”

More than 360 outstanding World Habitat Awards projects have been recognised over the years, demonstrating substantial, lasting improvements in living conditions.

One of the previous winners, based in Hull, was the Preston Road Women’s Centre. Here they are transforming the lives of families by helping them escape domestic abuse, which affects an estimated 43,000 women and children – more than one in six of the population.

They have also co-designed two unique social investment funds, alongside the respective fund managers – the Social and Sustainable Housing fund (SASH) and the Women in Safe (WISH) funds. SASH has so far invested £43.3 million in eight organisations across the UK, with WISH providing 600 homes for women in its first phase.

The Awards have been created to promote projects that provide practical, innovative solutions to current housing needs, with a particular focus on affordable housing.

If you think you are eligible for the awards, and have a particular project you’d like to showcase, submit your entry before the deadline closes at midnight on Monday 14^th March.