Assessment of national housing needs and affordability in Ecuador, 1984-2004

While low-cost housing programs have been targeted toward middle- and lower-income groups, the lowest-income families are often displaced by middle-income families and must find unauthorized and substandard housing in the informal sector. A set of alternative solutions should focus on the reduction of minimum housing standards, increased participaton by the private sector in construction, marketing, and financing, and incentives by the government to encourage more self-help upgrading efforts by low-income households. In addition, administrative procedures in the public sector should be streamlined and abbreviated in order to more effectively fulfill the housing needs of lower-income households (Author abstract, modified, derived from PN-AAV-887, p. 14.)