ABSTRACT
For the urban poor, there are four significant potential sources of housing finance. 2 The first is investments by the urban poor themselves, using their own monies and the informal savings and lending institutions that are immediately available to them. The second is government-supported housing finance, either through direct construction or through the provision of subsidized loans. The third source is formal sector commercial financial institutions. The final source is micro-finance institutions that have emerged from primarily NGO-led development innovations.
