Financing Options for Green and Affordable Housing (GAH): An Exploratory Study of South Asian Economies

Abstract

Housing is a basic human need and its affordability has become a concern with the exponential population growth, especially in densely populated developing countries. Rapid urbanization, inadequate housing and increasing slums have also brought environmental challenges to urban areas of developing countries. To address such concerns, Green Affordable Housing (GAH) has emerged as a concept with the convergence of ideas and actions of affordable housing and sustainability. This research aims to identify the GAH adoption strategies and the financial options through case study analysis of three South Asian Economies (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) and validated the case study outcome by using content analysis approach. The findings reveal that India has made notable progress in establishing a GAH financial market, while Pakistan and Bangladesh are struggling due to a lack of appropriate funds and underrated financial markets. This study further proposed the financing framework to achieve GAH for South Asian economies because the low-income Credit Link Subsidy Scheme alone supporting the adoption of GAH would not be enough. The study provides policy recommendations for using Credit Link subsidies, energy-efficient mortgages, and Public-Private Partnerships for housing investment as effective methods for financingGAH.