Extract

In this chapter, an exploration of World Bank lending for housing across Latin America is combined with a detailed review of the Mexican case. In the region, housing systems tend to incorporate significant volumes of state-led, market-based, and informal housing supply. World Bank lending initially supported governments’ efforts to strengthen their capacity to act as provider states in the realm of housing, before in more recent years promoting moves toward more regulatory modes of engagement. In Mexico, the turn in World Bank lending toward mortgage market expansion coincided with the transition from the PRI to the PAN administration. While the Bank has assisted in the creation of a national mortgage liquidity facility, the needs of low-income populations in informal settlements have attracted relatively little attention from the organisation, and remain under-served through the Mexican housing system.