Sustaining Communities Urban Housing and Lending
A 1992 United Nations study identified overcrowding and a lack of access to credit as two of the principal barriers to development in urban León.
ViviendasLeón's Urban Housing Program assists in the economic reconstruction of the León region, and in meeting the housing needs of working families. The housing is designed to be built in various sizes and configurations to adjust to the financial limitations of the families, and to incorporate elements that promote natural cooling. The Program is currently working toward a large development in partnership with the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, UNAN. The project will provide housing built to modern engineering standards for over 600 families on land purchased by the University on the periphery of León. It will incorporate traditional civic elements such as parks and a central plaza, and contemporary infrastructure such as environmental waste treatment and passive solar power generation.
Current commercial lending rates and practices within the country severely limit access to credit for working families, limiting the potential for economic and social reconstruction. To expand opportunities for working families, ViviendasLeón's Urban Housing Program offers a lending component that provides below market rate mortgages to the families who purchase housing.