-
Best Ideas of 2011: Understanding Three Affordable Housing X-Factors
I spent most of 2011 in Pakistan working at Ansaar Management Company on affordable housing projects in the flood-affected areas. Reflecting on the year, there are three distinct lessons that stand out. I call them X-Factors; lessons that, if understood broadly, could make a significant difference in the way in which housing is provided for all.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Jane Goodall and Affordable Housing
Can we build affordable housing for all in our lifetime? The authors in this series say YES ? but. Old patterns in the housing value chain can’t continue as government action, public policy or business as usual. A new ?housing ecosystem? is needed to catalyze breakthroughs, support cross-sector collaborations and create sustainable solutions.
- Categories
- Investing, Uncategorized
- Tags
- housing
-
Affordable Housing for All – In Our Lifetime
In order to fix broken affordable housing value chains, each player needed to move from a mindset where they were competing for a limited ?wallet share, to one in which multiple players ? each with different assets to make the wallet actually expand in size - came together in significant and increasing numbers to overcome major obstacles.
- Categories
- Finance, Uncategorized
- Tags
- housing
-
Housing Series: Empowering an Urban Community After Disaster
Communities like Simon-Pel? present many challenges, all magnified by the 2010 earthquake. Habitat for Humanity Haiti used a community-based enumeration (survey) process aimed to help the community take stock of its resources, prioritize its needs and develop action plans. The surveys and focus groups are tools for building more than housing.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- housing
-
Housing Series: The Critical Shift Toward Asset Building
For over two decades, the partnership between the Citi Foundation and Habitat for Humanity International relied heavily on a "one house, one family," volunteer house-building model. But a shift to a strategy that increases the supply of financial products and services that accelerate financial inclusion is urgently needed.
- Categories
- Finance, Uncategorized
-
Housing Series: The Case for Bundling Housing Finance With Housing Support Services
Studies suggest that between 20 to 30 percent of microfinance institution (MFI) clients use portions of their small business start-up or production loans for housing improvements. While MFIs see this as "leakage" for non-productive activities, "productive housing" should be viewed as both a livelihood strategy as well as asset creation.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- housing, microfinance
-
Housing Series: The Case for Housing Support Services
Access to finance and secure tenure has been shown to be the most effective catalysts for self-help incremental housing improvements. But while they are essential, even together, they are not sufficient to improve the living conditions for many of the world’s low-income populations.
- Categories
- Finance
-
The Beauty of Bricks and Mortar: Low-cost Housing as a Foundation for Impact
At Acumen Fund, we feel it is high time for the dynamic to change - for the social enterprise sector to recognize the need to catalyze and support affordable housing across emerging markets. But we know there are forces working against us that cause housing to be treated like the forgotten stepchild of the social enterprise sector.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- housing, impact investing
Subscribe to Our 'Business in Global Development' Newsletter!
Our new weekly LinkedIn newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with curated news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage of impact-focused business in emerging markets.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.