The impact of the sub prime crisis on sustainable housing finance

This article discusses the role of Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) sector in urban housing finance. It examines possible areas/ models of NGO involvement in low income urban housing finance, obstacles and limitations of such involvement. Two successful cases of NGO involvement in housing finance - one a self sustaining initiative by an enterprising NGO and the other, an externally funded project to engage the NGO sector in housing finance – are analyzed and highlighted as best practices. These cases are: i) the initiatives of SEWA Bank in low income housing microfinance and ii) housing finance loan projects by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) geared towards NGOs. In conclusion, some policy guidelines are given to promote the involvement of NGO sector in low income housing finance.