Affordable housing has been put back to the international research and policy agenda. The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and its detrimental effects on economies and societies in combination with the ratification of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) have put housing back into the spotlight of fundamental discussions on the role of governments, redistribution, and socio-spatial justice. In combination, the GFC, NUA, and SDG also illustrate that the complex processes surrounding the provision of affordable housing are poorly understood. Against this backdrop, the upcoming BBL will discuss recent changes in housing policies in two major countries of the Global South. The comparison of the Indian and Brazilian approach to affordable housing reveals a great variety of government options to intervene in achieving greater housing affordability. Their common shortcomings also point to the need for more nuanced and systematic strategies in line of the NUA recommendations, as well as for more in-depth institutional research situating at the interface of architecture, urban planning, real estate markets and national policy making.