Recommendations

1. Options to extend credit to households that have no formally demonstrable income should be urgently explored in cases where credit is required. Some credit may be required for direct expenditure on shelter. In other cases credit may be more desirable for income-generating activities that will improve the ability of the household to upgrade its shelter status over time.

2. Informal-sector incomes are not necessarily regular or constant. Interventions based on savings and /or loan assistance should allow for flexibility in the manner that payments are made in order to ensure that payment ability coincides with earning cycles. This is particularly so with seasonal earnings. Study of the savings and loan systems operating within the informal sector itself can provide important information for the formal sector planner who wishes to design an appropriate and effective system.