EBRD names main challenge in financing private-sector housing projects

The key challenge for banks working with the private sector remains the availability and bankability of projects, Managing Director for Sustainable Infrastructure at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Harry Boyd-Carpenter said during a panel discussion at WUF13 in Baku.

According to Report, Harry Boyd-Carpenter made the remarks during the session titled "From Global Housing Finance to Local Action on Affordable Housing: Leveraging Global Development Finance and Subnational Financing."

"We need bankable projects. However, housing affordability often becomes a challenge, or people seek financing on highly concessional terms, which does not fully align with the EBRD's operating model," he stated.

Boyd-Carpenter also noted that another major difficulty lies in local specificity and the unique constraints present in each case.

"We are often surprised that a solution that works effectively in one city turns out to be ineffective in a neighboring one. An approach that delivers results in one country may not work at all in another," he stressed.

According to him, this makes close attention to local-level details essential and requires substantial grant funding and technical cooperation resources.