Reall has worked in Nepal since 2011, in partnership with Lumanti and Sewa.

Soaring land prices and increasing rural-urban migration have made it increasingly difficult for people living on low incomes to afford housing in Nepal, especially in fast-growing urban areas. As of 2014, 54% of Nepal’s urban population were found to be living in slums. In addition, recent natural disasters have left many more people needing further relief and housing reconstruction.

Lumanti projects cover delivery of affordable apartments and homes, improving water provision, establishing sustainable systems of human waste, solid waste and grey water management and providing housing finance. Reall and Lumanti’s biggest shared success is the creation of a Revolving Loan Fund that has enabled sustained, long-term access to affordable housing finance for low-income communities across Nepal. To date, the fund has recycled over US$3 million, with a total of US$5.3 million disbursed to clients, enabling hundreds of low-income households to access finance for housing construction, upgrades, or repairs. Two key delivery models underpin the system: the bank guarantee model, which incentivises commercial banks to lend to low-income groups by mitigating risk through partial guarantees; and the cooperative loan model, where Lumanti directly lends to community cooperatives who then distribute loans to members. The system has proven especially impactful in post-earthquake Kathmandu Valley, where many loans supported rebuilding and repairs.

Reall’s work with Sewa has also supported financial and technical assistance to families living on low incomes in informal settlements, this consists of both 40+ improvement loans, 330+ loans for self-build. They have also built 11 homes and developed 101 plots for affordable homes.

Lumanti and Sewa projects demonstrate the viability of low-income people to engage with housing finance; guarantees were originally offered at 50% of total loan cost, but in negotiation with banks these have reduced to as little as 10% as banks have gained trust in the ability of people on a low income to repay.