HOUSING FINANCE
The majority of low-income households in the Third World city do not satisfy conventional criteria for mortgage finance. They are unable to service the debt in terms of the amount and requirement for regular repayments, often do not hold legal title to the property (which cannot be used as collateral), while the small loans sought are less profitable (owing to transaction costs) and therefore unattractive to commercial financial institutions. Accordingly, the bulk of home finance in Africa, Asia and Latin America comes from outside the commercial financial institutions. Households use their own savings, sweat equity, barter arrangements and other informal' sources to build homes over an extended period, typically five to fifteen years. Schemes to provide micro-finance for housing are intended to operate within this 'precarious' investment environment by providing small loans (typically $300-$3,000) at market rates of interest over short terms secured by forms of collateral that recognise the para-legal ownership of land or property.