According to the Mongolian Mortgage Corporation (MIC), a total of 95,000 people have received mortgages since 2013.

The Mongolian government started implementing a mortgage loan programme in 2013 to increase the affordability and accessibility of apartments for urban residents, particularly young families and those living in ger districts. Providing housing mortgages at a rate of 8 percent is also part of the government’s efforts to reduce air pollution in the country, especially in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.

Air pollution is a pressing challenge for Ulaanbaatar, where half of its population, live in the city’s ger districts, with no running water, central heating or sewerage systems.

Until this year, Ger residents have been using their stoves and burn raw coal and other flammable materials to cook and keep warm during the region’s six-month-long winter, a practice proven to be responsible for an estimated 80 percent of the air pollution in the capital city. This year, there has been a partial improvement, due to a government programme to replace the raw coal with environmentally-friendly coal briquettes. However, conditions still remain tough in the ger districts.

Housing is definitely one of the long-term solutions for reducing air pollution.