On 10th April, 2024, Habitat for Humanity Zambia in partnership with, Habitat for Humanity Great Britain, the Habitat Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter and Zambia National Building Society launched a 4-year housing finance project funded by Jersey Overseas Aid titled “Creating Access to Safe Housing: Building Financial Inclusion and Resilience for Women in Zambia’’ alongside a housing Market Research Report.
This project will adopt an integrated approach by focusing on both the supply and demand side of housing microfinance. On the supply side, it will initially partner with two private sector Financial Service Providers (FSPs) – Entrepreneurs Financial Centre (EFC) and Zambia National Building Society (ZNBS) to develop client-centric housing finance products that are suitable for predominately low-income women. It is anticipated that a total of 36,000 housing loans will be distributed by these partners during this project. The FSPs and beneficiaries will be integrated onto the same digital platform, to facilitate the smooth rollout and management of the housing finance products.
The project recognizes that affordable housing finance has the potential to be a powerful tool in enabling low-income households to improve their living conditions and access sustainable housing solutions. Access to financial resources and support allows individuals and families to undertake home construction, renovation, and improvement activities. However, to effectively address the needs of low-income households, a market systems approach will be applied to gain a deep understanding of the demand and supply dynamics and the regulatory and policy environment surrounding housing finance in Zambia.
Similarly, the market research report launched provides recommendations on opportunities to address the housing finance barriers in specific sectors that will impact the market in the short, medium, and long term. It will also identify potential investment opportunities in housing finance to help the supply side access and provide capital/investments in housing finance initiatives within the supply chain.
The Market Research applied the market assessment, MI4ID (Market Insights for Innovation and Design), and root cause analysis frameworks to identify and understand systemic barriers and develop effective housing finance solutions. A mixed method approach combined qualitative and quantitative research to gain comprehensive insights into the housing finance landscape.
