Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) and Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company (TMRC) engaged Altair Consultancy and Advisory Services Ltd (Altair) to conduct focused market research with consumers and relevant stakeholders in the housing microfinance (HMF) industry in Tanzania. The research assessed the current state of the HMF market, and explore demand for new HMF products, providing HFHI and TMRC with a clearer idea regarding how local financial institutions (FIs) can both develop and participate in Tanzania’s fledgling HMF market.

The study has worked on the assumption that the most suitable target borrowers for HMF products in Tanzania are low- and middle-income households who earn between 80,000 TZS ($34) to 1,500,000 TZS ($630) per month.

Research methods combined desktop review of existing secondary data, and primary research methods including interviews with stakeholders, focus group discussions with potential users, and a quantitative household survey.