The Haiti Homeownership and Mortgage Expansion (HOME) program was a five-year, USD 10-million USAID-funded initiative implemented by the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) from 2015 to 2020. The program aimed to create a new market for affordable housing by deploying an innovative Pay-for-Results (PfR) scheme, which catalyzed the supply and demand sides of the housing value chain.
The program’s methodology for designing its PfR incentive structure involved a comprehensive market analysis, which identified the need to incentivize commercial firms to invest in the development of a market for affordable housing. On the supply side, the program provided incentives to bring property developers into the affordable housing space, with the intent of increasing the stock of affordable housing available to low- and middle-income buyers. On the demand side, HOME worked to increase the availability of mortgage financing from financial institutions for low- and middle-income buyers.
The program’s results were significant, with more than USD 25.9 million in private sector funds leveraged utilizing less than USD 3 million in publicly funded incentives—a ratio of 9:1. The program also developed Haiti’s first credit union-issued mortgage product, offering a new solution to lower-income households typically not served by commercial banks when it comes to long-term financing. On the supply side, the program stimulated the development of an affordable housing industry by incentivizing private sector investment in affordable housing supply and supporting affordable housing property developers to develop capacity to implement international building best practices.
The program’s transformational achievements included the creation of a new market for affordable housing, the development of a credit union-issued mortgage product, and the stimulation of private sector investment in affordable housing supply. The program’s success factors included the use of a comprehensive market analysis to design the PfR incentive structure, the provision of incentives to bring property developers into the affordable housing space, and the use of “push” activities such as grants and technical assistance to help private sector partners build capacity.
The program’s lessons for donors and program implementers include the importance of using a comprehensive market analysis to design the PfR incentive structure, the need to provide incentives to bring property developers into the affordable housing space, and the importance of using “push” activities to help private sector partners build capacity. The program’s results demonstrate the potential of PfR to achieve meaningful development outcomes and the challenges inherent in designing and implementing a PfR initiative.
The HOME program’s impact on Haiti’s affordable housing sector was significant, with the program creating a new market for affordable housing and stimulating private sector investment in affordable housing supply. The program’s results also highlight the importance of addressing the fundamental constraints in Haiti’s home delivery system, including unclear property rights and limited income levels, in order to create a sustainable market for affordable housing.