ADB approves $100m housing loan for Bangladesh

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$100 million concessional loan on Sunday to expand access to affordable and climate-resilient housing finance for low- and middle-income households in Bangladesh, particularly women.
Under the Inclusive Affordable Housing Finance Project, the financing will be channelled through the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) and eligible microfinance institutions (MFIs) to provide long-term, collateral-free housing microfinance loans.
The loans will support families in constructing, repairing and upgrading their homes, particularly households with informal incomes that are generally not served by conventional mortgage lenders.
ADB Country Director for Bangladesh Qingfeng Zhang said, “By helping low- and middle-income families, especially women, invest in safer and more resilient homes, this project will contribute to Bangladesh’s broader goals of reducing poverty, strengthening social protection, enhancing human development, and fostering more inclusive and sustainable economic growth.”
The project is expected to provide loans to at least 40,000 households by 2031, including at least 32,000 women and 24,000 borrowers living in areas vulnerable to natural hazards.
It will also promote financial and land literacy and awareness of housing rights. Measures will be introduced to strengthen housing security for women through documentation of borrowers’ spousal residency arrangements.
The project will incorporate resilient housing design, construction and shock-protection measures to help homes withstand flooding, cyclones, extreme heat and other disaster and extreme-weather impacts.
ADB said the project would also strengthen Bangladesh’s housing finance ecosystem and encourage greater private-sector participation.
For this, PKSF and participating MFIs will receive support to improve data and risk management systems, hazard-risk screening, portfolio monitoring and digital reporting.
Of the $100 million financing, $40 million will come from ADB’s climate adaptation financing, while the project will also receive $600,000 in technical assistance grants.
The initiative is aimed at addressing Bangladesh’s shortage of safe and affordable housing and the limited availability of housing finance for households outside the reach of traditional mortgage providers.