OPiWPR

A series of workshops focusing on housing finance were conducted in various provincial cities in Poland from early June to early July 1991. The workshops were designed to train investors/developers, bankers/mortgage lenders, and municipal officials in the operational characteristics of the proposed World Bank and Government of Poland Housing Finance Project (HFP). Key issues included the following: appraising property and land values; competitive bidding (e.g., construction and public sector land sales); estimating/calculating project costs; market analyses, affordability, and financial feasibility; banker-borrower relations; design and construction technologies; and development process/project cycle. This report describes how the workshops were initially designed, and how they were then modified to emphasize finance issues. The workshops had very positive results and generated considerable interest in the HFP. However, it is very clear to both the participants and the trainers that the HFP will not succeed in stimulating housing production unless a number of bankers elect to participate actively in the HFP construction and mortgage credit systems. Therefore, absolute top priori

Source: DEC abstract, PN-ABI-881 (1991). The source's own text.