There is no limit to what income levels that the SwapRent model could be applied to as this free market based “portable housing affordability” methodology could be applied to different situations depending on the local operators’ objectives in each developing country. They could be implemented in conjunction with many other more conventional charitable social assistance programs. For example, rental assistance may be best provided by the governments to the extreme poor, disabled persons or disadvantaged families. What SwapRent model can do from there is to let them, other relatively higher income poor people and low income working families become longer term homeowners instead of staying transient renters, so that they would care more about their shelters and feel good about themselves. They would spend their own efforts to improve their homes and their neighborhoods. In some situations those with increased income levels may even consider participating in future appreciation as an investment, within their means.
The key concept is that this vital sheltering function could be provided first and foremost without the undue leveraged participation in the property value gambling games for those who seek sheltering, no matter what income levels they belong to. That investment part of the housing issues will be left as a separate issue. These investment issues could be more efficiently extracted out through SwapRent contracts to allow the homeowners and other free market investors to transact in a very low cost way. Due to the fact that REIDeX’s SwapRent contracts could make investment much more efficient and effective, these assistance funds for the poor to obtain sheltering will become plentifully available willingly from other free market investors around the world so that local operators would no longer have to solely rely on local taxpayers’ money or other sources of charitable money to help the poor with housing and/or home-ownership anymore. Free market forces will automatically do social good once these new SwapRent methodologies are put in place and the corresponding supporting arrangements are properly structured.
The HELM business model could be operated as a for-profit or a not-for-profit organization as illustrated in slide #11 in the most recent SwapRent presentation file. Therefore the cost to the homeowners etc. is really up to the local operators in each country that we license the methodology and provide consultancy work to. The local implementers could be local banks, housing authorities, federal/local governments, NGOs or charitable organizations in the developing countries.
FARJHO 