Housing

As the only DFI specializing in financing housing projects, FMO is a front runner in the housing development industry. We continued building our expertise and project pipeline in this field in 2011, financing several new projects.  

We expect housing sector transactions to continue to increase in 2012, in line with our strategy to grow the size of our housing portfolio relative to FMO's overall portfolio.

The Housing team signed agreements on six projects in 2011, with a total value of €56 million, including contracts improving availability of mortgage financing. By year-end the housing team had approximately 10 projects in our pipeline. Our total housing sector portfolio had grown to €420 million.

FMO partnered last year with Mettle, a major player in specialized financial services in South Africa. We contributed a ZAR 100 million loan to the Mettle debt fund, established in 2008 as part of a countrywide effort by the financial services industry to increase the availability of affordable housing in the country. The fund (ZAR 850 million) extends loans to affordable housing projects and covers 100% of the project costs, such as land acquisition, site infrastructure and construction of the housing units. Mettle currently finances 11 projects, primarily located in urban areas. With FMO's help, Mettle is moving closer to its goal of financing over 17,000 housing units by 2021.