Housing (Civ6)

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Housing is a new concept in Civilization VI, which acts as a slowing factor and eventually a hard limit on Population growth in each city. It is meant to emulate habitation and sanitation factors in cities, and the limits that overcrowding imposes on growth. Fortunately, there are many different ways that Housing can increase.

Mechanics

Housing acts alongside the traditional Food growth factor in the following way:

Housing minus Population	Growth rate from Food	Notes
2 or more	100%
1	50%	Starts at Housing-1
0 to -4	25%	Starts at Housing value
-5 or less	0%	Hard cap at Housing+5

As shown in the table above, Housing acts as an additional constraint on Population growth beyond Food supply. In practice, this means that a city will need Housing to grow larger, even if it has more than enough Food. Conversely, if a city has too little Food, no amount of spare Housing will help it grow.

Initially the amount of Housing available is strongly dependent on fresh water access (quite correct historically). As the city develops, however, its Housing becomes mostly dependent on the existence of tile improvements, buildings, and districts (that is, facilities inside the city which have no relation to nearby terrain). Later still, civics and governments will also add Housing.

Note that Housing is a fluid trait, especially when provided by "soft" sources such as policy cards. However, losing Housing (e.g., because you stopped using a certain policy) will not cause a loss of Population; instead it will merely slow down Population growth, or stop it altogether. In that manner, Housing is very different from Food: when you are losing Food in the city you will also eventually start losing Population.

For details on how to get more Housing, see the section below. Also note that the "Housing" section of the City Details screen shows a detailed breakdown of all sources currently providing Housing for the city.

Sources

The most basic Housing conditions are related to a water source, and this depends on where your city (that is, the City Center) is placed. Fresh water (River, Lake, Oasis) provides 5 Housing. Coast provides 3 Housing if you don't have fresh water. Every other placement gives only 2 Housing, meaning that your Population growth will be slowed by 50% from the very beginning until/unless you increase Housing (as per the table above).

This is why water supply plays such a prominent role in the Settler lens - look for the dark green tiles to settle in the best possible locations.

Cities owned by the Maya start with 2 Housing whether or not they have a water source. Being the Suzerain of Mohenjo-Daro makes all your cities start with 5 Housing from water sources (except when playing as the Maya).

Starting era

Starting the game in a later era gives all cities extra Housing.

Starting era	Extra Housing in Capital	Extra Housing in other cities
Ancient	N/A	N/A
Classical	2	0
Medieval	2	1
Renaissance	5	1
Industrial	5	2
Modern	8	2
Atomic	8	4
Information	11	4

Buildings and districts

Many buildings grant Housing. After researching Pottery, every city is able to build a Granary, which adds 2 Housing, and later they can build Sewers, which also adds 2 Housing. Some buildings in Districts add 1 Housing, such as the Barracks in the Encampment, the University in the Campus, and the Lighthouse in the Harbor. The Palace in your Capital city also adds 1 Housing. Lighthouses also provide an additional 2 Housing if the city is adjacent a Coast or Lake.

Some Holy Site buildings are capable of adding Housing. In vanilla Civilization VI and Rise and Fall, the Pagoda and each Shrine or Temple in a city with the Religious Community follower belief adds +1 Housing; in Gathering Storm, the Gurdwara adds +1 Housing and each Shrine or Temple in a city with the Feed the World follower belief adds +2 Housing.

Aqueducts are the earliest engineering means of increasing Housing by providing additional access to water. They will add 2 Housing for cities that already have fresh water; otherwise they will set the water Housing value to 6. Note that Aqueducts must be built adjacent to both your City Center and either a Mountain or a source of fresh water, so plan accordingly.

Housing from Water

City location	Housing	Housing with Aqueduct
Fresh water	base 5	7 (+2)
Coastal water	base 3	6 (+3)
No water	base 2	6 (+4)

One can see from this table that 1) while not mandatory for placement, fresh water is a huge boost to early city growth; 2) for fresh water placements, an Aqueduct can still help, but not until later, allowing early concentration on other projects; and 3) for non-fresh water placements, taking the time to build an Aqueduct is a strong equalizer.

The Neighborhood district is exclusively dedicated to providing Housing through additional habitation space based on the tile's Appeal (with the bonus ranging from +2 for Disgusting Appeal to +6 for Breathtaking Appeal).

The Roman and Zulu unique districts - the Bath and the Ikanda - provide +2 and +1 Housing bonuses (respectively) above and beyond the districts they replace.

In Gathering Storm, the Dam provides +3 Housing by improving the sanitation from nearby rivers, and Liang's Water Works title causes Aqueducts and Neighborhoods in the city in which she is established to provide an additional +2 Housing.

The Preserve also provides up to +3 Housing (+1 base, +2 for Charming Appeal, +3 for Breathtaking Appeal). Unlike the Aqueduct, Dam, and Neighborhood, however, it is a specialty district.

To maximize Housing, the best possible location for a city is on a coastal tile with fresh water, a Harbor and a Lighthouse, an Aqueduct, and a Dam (on Floodplains). This amounts to 13 Housing (base 5 from fresh water, +3 from the Lighthouse, +2 from the Aqueduct, +3 from the Dam).

Improvements

Each Farm, Pasture, Plantation, Camp, or Fishing Boats supports a small amount of Population, +0.5 Housing for every such improvements within 3 tiles of the City Center. Supporting rural Population in this fashion will allow for slightly larger Populations prior to the Industrial Era, when the Neighborhood district becomes available. Note that unlike district adjacency which requires pairs of matching improvements for each minor adjacency bonus (2 Mines/Lumber Mills/Woods/Rainforests), Housing improvements that provide +0.5 Housing are simply additive (e.g., a city with 1 Farm, 1 Pasture, 1 Plantation, and 1 Fishery will receive a total of +2 Housing).

In Gathering Storm, the futuristic Seastead provides +2 Housing and can be constructed in any water tile (except Reefs), providing a late-game means of increasing Housing with floating homes.

Civilization and leader abilities

Some civilization and leader abilities grant additional Housing:

• The Australians gain +3 Housing in coastal cities.
• The Maya gain +1 Housing from Farms.
• Jayavarman VII grants +2 Housing to Holy Sites built adjacent to Rivers.
• Kupe grants the Palace +3 Housing.

There are some civilizations whose unique tile improvements provide extra Housing apart from standard improvements. Below is the list of unique tile improvements that provide Housing:

•  Golf Course (Scottish): 1 Housing with Globalization
•  Kampung (Indonesian): 1 Housing, 1 additional Housing with Mass Production
•  Mekewap (Cree): 1 Housing, 1 additional Housing with Civil Service
•  Outback Station (Australian): 0.5 Housing
•  Polder (Dutch): 0.5 Housing
•  Stepwell (Indian): 1 Housing, 1 additional Housing with Sanitation
•  Terrace Farm (Incan): 1 Housing

Policies

Another major source of Housing is policy cards. The following policy cards, when slotted, will increase Housing:

Policy card	Function	First available
Insulae	+1 Housing in cities with 2 or more districts.	Classical Era
Civil Prestige	Established Governors with at least 2 Promotions provide +1 Amenity and +2  Housing.	Medieval Era
Medina Quarter	+2 Housing in cities with 3 or more districts.	Medieval Era
New Deal	+4 Housing, 2 Amenities, -8 Gold in cities with 3 or more districts. 4 Housing and 2 Amenities in cities with 3 or more districts.	Modern Era
Collectivism	Farms +1 Food. All cities +2  Housing. +100% Industrial Zone adjacency bonuses. BUT:  Great People Points earned 50% slower.	Modern Era

Wonders

Some wonders also supply bonuses in Housing. Below is the list of wonders that provide Housing:

•  Angkor Wat: 1 Housing in all cities.
•  Great Bath (): 3 Housing.
•  Hanging Gardens: 2 Housing.
•  Temple of Artemis (): 3 Housing.

Other

There are also other sources of Housing, which are generally non-permanent. They are related to specific forms of government, or to its agents (the Governors), or the Suzerainty of Mohenjo-Daro. Since these may be changed or relocated at any time, you should aim to utilize them strategically in periods of the game for general growth, or in specific cities to allow a temporary growth spurt.

If Liang has the Aquaculture title and is established in a city, one can also improve Coast or Lake tiles in it with Fisheries (same +0.5 Housing bonus as the Fishing Boats).

There are some improvements unique to a specific city-state that players can build once Suzerain of that city-state. Below is the list of city-state specific improvements that provide Housing:

•  Cahokia Mounds (Cahokia): 1 Housing, 1 additional Housing with Cultural Heritage
•  Monastery (Armagh): 1 Housing, 1 additional Housing with Colonialism (Only provides Housing in )
•  Mahavihara (Nalanda): 1 Housing (requires Babylon Pack DLC)