48Replicability and lessons learned Replicable or scalable aspects ▪Blended finance model: Combining philanthropic and investment capital creates a sustainable and scalable approach adaptable to various contexts. This approach streamlines infrastructure devel- opment while maintaining operational quality. ▪Financial institution partnerships: Training local financial institu - tions to serve low-income populations creates lasting infrastructure beyond the immediate programme. Financial institutions can use proven data that shows these families are potential customers. ▪Land appreciation strategy: Purchasing undeveloped land, adding infrastructure and harnessing the resulting value increase can be replicated across geographical contexts and cultures. ▪Layaway payment structure: The affordable monthly payment system simultaneously builds savings habits and creditworthi- ness for previously unbanked populations, moving them from beneficiary to customer. Lessons learned ▪Community engagement: Low-income families in Mexico often hesitate to trust new programmes or services due to the coun- try’s long history of corruption. Engaging families excluded from formal markets requires deep community involvement, transpar - ent communication and a long-term commitment to delivering results. At the same time, ensuring that developers see a viable and profitable model is essential for scaling this programme to new states and regions. By promoting trust at the community level and demonstrating the model’s financial sustainability, programmes can bridge the gap between affordability and invest - ment, creating a lasting impact for both families and developers. ▪Financial institution collaboration: Traditionally, financial insti- tutions did not see low-income families as viable customers. By readying families through financial literacy training and sup- porting them throughout their land payments, the programme de-risked these families and moved them from beneficiaries to traditional market actors. Local financial institutions now see them as responsible and reliable customers, ready for their first loans. Challenges ▪Creating a new housing market: New Story is the only organization within Mexico using a market-based model that combines philan- thropy and investment to solve global homelessness and poverty. No direct competitors exist because home developers and financial institutions do not see low-income, unbanked families in Mexico as customers. New Story has created a model that de-risks these families and unlocks a land and housing market that currently excludes them. ▪Embedding sustainable practices: Less-sustainable construc- tion materials such as traditional concrete are often found to be preferred by communities and developers New Story works with. In response, New Story is seeking to further embed circular and sustainable construction and materials into the development model by building a robust economic and longevity case for fam- ilies, investors and developers they work with. This will serve to further improve the quality of the homes built. ▪Incentivizing private sector actors: Without support from New Story, private sector actors cannot take on the workload to imple- ment the activities. Therefore, New Story is actively working with land developers and financial institutions in target regions to understand how they can effectively implement this strategy independently. In particular, New Story is working to better understand the top criteria for success, including: ▪Profitability: Ensuring the minimum profit needed for land developers to take this innovation seriously and understand that they will benefit from it ▪Demand: Opening their opportunities to a new, high-demand market with huge potential, unlocking a new segment they may not have been able to access before ▪Ease of implementation: Providing these actors with a simple guide to adopt and incorporate without any challenges Next steps ▪New Story is expanding this model across Mexico, targeting 10,000 new families in 10 states by 2027. To scale this programme, New Story aims to continue raising investment and philanthropy capital. This includes partnering with 8-10 financial service providers to offer specialized financing products in new geographic regions. ▪The programme will continue refining its approach to reducing philanthropic unit costs while maintaining quality and impact. New Story is developing enhanced training programmes for financial institutions and plans to enter the sub-Saharan African market once the approach is proven in Latin America. ▪A key focus is strengthening the measurement of long-term out - comes, particularly intergenerational wealth transfer and women’s economic empowerment, through longitudinal studies tracking how land ownership transforms families’ economic trajectories.5149The Ahualulco Land Title Ceremony, March 2025. New Story

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