Towards a participatory loan – supported housing scheme: Helwan New Community, Egypt

Abstract

Most of the developing countries, including Egypt, face problems of providing affordable housing for low-income strata. The evolution of these problems and their nature differ from one country to another, according to the political, social and economic contexts. This paper represents an attempt to provide an insight into the development of a housing scheme which offers a way of reducing costs without completely losing control of appearance. This case study, of low-income housing projects in Egypt’s Helwan new community, provides an example which serves to present the major common problems in such housing projects. The paper will shed light on the obstacles that were encountered when implementing the project and the recommended actions that should be taken in order to apply this policy. It is argued that the participatory loan-supported housing scheme is a means of creating low income and affordable housing in many developing countries.