The State Bank of Pakistan in pursuance of the National Housing Policy (NHP) – 2001 issued by the Government of Pakistan in December 2001, constituted an Advisory Group on Housing Finance,  comprising eminent bankers and housing sector specialists, for identifying bottlenecks, besides, proposing measures for instituting an effective and broad-based housing finance system in the country. This group has come up with a number of recommendations that can lower the cost of housing, encourage commercial banks to finance housing loans to the lower end of the populace, and above all make homeownership affordable.