The difficulty in accessing housing finance for lower income people is exacerbated in the face of the potential financial risk to lenders posed by the HIV/Aids pandemic. This pandemic has a devastating effect on households where loan payments cannot be made as a result of the disease. Affected families face the probability of homelessness and the reality of Aids orphans and child-headed households is escalating.

Our market, which encompasses the economic backbone of South Africa, is perceived to be one of the most vulnerable to HIV/Aids infection.

Our priorities are:

• to ensure that home loans are, and remain, available to lower income people based on their affordability and not their HIV status

• to ensure that lenders do not have non-performing loans as a result of HIV and Aids-related illness and therefore, that affected people retain their homes

• that affected borrowers and, in time, their partners, have sustainable access to appropriate treatment

Our programme is national and is designed as a living benefit to all.

The guarantees are available to all lenders providing loans in terms of acceptable credit criteria and can be called upon where the default is a direct result of an HIV or Aids related illness and where the borrower participates in and HLGC facilitated treatment programme.

The fundamental success of this Programme requires the increased dissemination of focussed information, communication and education to encourage early voluntary counselling and testing for borrowers. This promotes prevention and treatment which are primary risk management interventions.

It is not our intention to create new institutions or organisations but to harness the considerable skill, professionalism and expertise that we have in abundance in South Africa. To this end, we are forming alliances and partnerships with medical practitioners, clinicians, educators and other specialists.

To initiate the treatment programme, we have partnered with Right to Care, a Section 21 Company that, through a specifically designed programme, is able to assist clinicians, general practitioners and health care providers who are not necessarily HIV or Aids specialists, to correctly prescribed treatment protocols taking into account all necessary factors.

Our existing education programmes have been enhanced to accommodate the aspects of HIV and Aids that influence housing decisions and borrower ability to meet financial commitments. To increase capacity and extend the service we offer, we are interacting with organisations in the education field that specialise in HIV and Aids.

Commercial re-insurance for Aids related default is not readily available and to the extent that it can be purchased, is prohibitively expensive. Through Alternative Risk Transfer mechanisms, we have substantial re-insurance capability that can more than adequately service our book.

Our market on its own cannot afford the treatment required. While many borrowers have medical aid, it is not always sufficient to cover all aspects of HIV and Aids. The HLGC “Housing for HIV/Aids” Foundation has been established in Washington DC, the purpose of which is to donate its investment income to cover the short-fall. The HLGC is not a medical aid not does it intend to become one. However, treatment is fundamental to our ability to manage our risk, and therefore we must facilitate its availability.

>>> HLGC Foundation

To find out more, contact Charlene or Duncan, or call us on 011 726 3150