Brazilian social housing fund pounces because the time has come

The investment management group BGB Weston has joined forces with Brazilian international property advisors Origen to market a new “Brazilian Impact Investment Fund” designed to pump money into the second phase of the country’s massive Minha Casa, Minha Vida (MCMV) social housing programme because its “time has come.”

The MCMV initiative, (which translates as My House, My Life) is one of the biggest social housing projects in history, generating more than €65 billion in Brazilian government funds so far. €52 billion has been allocated for Phase 2 alone with the intention of building 2 million homes by 2014 says Origen.

The MCMV programme was launched by the Brazilian government in 2009 with the goal of building 3 million houses to close the existing inequality gap and housing deficit of 10 million homes in Brazil, mainly by supporting qualifying lower class families with 100% mortgages. MCMV is completely financed by Caixa Economica Federal (CEF), which is 100% controlled by the Brazilian state.

To begin with, the fund will focus on the Natal region of Brazil, which has the fastest-growing population, expected to more than double to 3 million by 2016. Natal currently has 70,000 people on the waiting list for social housing, from which 25,000 people have already been approved by the government for mortgages.

Source: OPP.org.uk