Facilitating access to housing for low-income families in Central America and the Caribbean
Financial products for housing
a) Progressive Housing Improvement:
o Refurbishment, consists of minor works, low complexity and fast execution, a common product for an inexperienced MFI to venture into this type of financial service.
o Expansion, consists of construction and incorporation of a new environment into the home, these are works of a certain complexity.
o Remodeling, more complex works that involve redesigning the home and may include the two previous types of works.
b) Comprehensive Home Improvement: (improvement, expansion and/or remodeling), as an alternative to progressive improvement, consists of a single intervention on the home in all its stages of work to solve various needs at the same time with a single loan. They are relatively complex, medium-term and high-value works and require detailed planning and monitoring. They are aimed at clients with greater payment capacity, ideally for clients with a clean credit history.
c) Purchase of the lot and legalization: the purchase and/or legalization procedures of the lot can be financed.
d) Housing Construction: it can include two types, according to aspects such as type of clients and ability to pay:
o Progressive construction on its own lot: modular financing according to the progress in construction, as a way of generating a relationship with the client, it could be aimed at new clients with reduced payment capacity.
o Comprehensive construction on its own lot: financing for a complete housing solution, mainly aimed at clients with a good history of behavior with the institution and with greater capacity to take on long-term debt and for larger amounts.
e) Home purchase: new or used. It is a product similar to the traditional mortgage loan of the financial system, high amount, long term, real guarantee constituted by the mortgage, aimed at a target group in particular, with the need to acquire a home and with capacity to face a relatively high financial commitment amount and with ability to borrow in the long term.
f) Water and Sanitation: a product aimed at establishing wastewater and sanitation management systems, water tanks, water purifiers, improvement of latrines, drains and and biodigesters. At the community level, sanitary units, water catchment, connection to public drains, water purification.