“The solution to the housing crisis lies in domestic financing," UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach said during the session titled “A New Deal for Housing Finance” held within the framework of WUF13, APA-Economics reports.
She stated that, first of all, there must be a consensus within society regarding what type of housing model will be established in order to solve the housing crisis. According to Rossbach, there is a major difference between projects that increase urbanization and a more compact and balanced urban model, and this directly affects financial costs.
Anacláudia Rossbach noted that land is the most expensive element in the housing value chain and that creating integrated housing in city centers requires greater financing.
The head of UN-Habitat stated that the use of state-owned land could significantly reduce the burden of housing finance: “If there is state-owned land, a large part of our problem is solved.”
She emphasized that no country has been able to solve the housing problem in a long-term and sustainable way solely through international financing: “The main role belongs to domestic financing.”
Referring to the examples of China, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Chile and India, Anacláudia Rossbach stated that successful housing policies were shaped through state savings, cooperative funds, worker savings and tax mechanisms.
