Policy Approaches in Affordable Urban Housing for Low-Income Earners

Abstract

This study provides a variety of theoretical approaches that have been used worldwide in the provision of affordable housing for low-income groups in society. Most housing initiatives for low-income groups have failed because of a lack of a systematic administrative and legal framework with little involvement of the beneficiaries. One of the reasons for such failure has been a communication gap between beneficiaries and the housing providers. In most countries, banks and formal housing agencies do not have adequate knowledge about the financial ability of the urban poor. This means that the low-income urban households are excluded from benefiting. Therefore, this study focuses on four main policy approaches that have been used by stakeholders in the provision of urban housing. These are Statist, World Bank, Mixed Social Market, and Collaborative policy approaches.