In the history of economic policy in Colombia, the promotion of housing construction has been a recurring theme. In this article the different schemes for promoting housing are described. The period for which a quantified analysis can be done starts in 1923, the year in which the Central Bank (Banco de la República) and the Banking Supervision Agency (Superintendencia Bancaria) were created following recommendations from the Kemmerer Mission. In the 1930's and 1940's the main source of mortgage loans was the Central Mortgage Bank (Banco Central Hipotecario - BCH). In the 1950's and 1960's it was complemented by the National Loans Institute (Instituto de Crédito Territorial - ICT), but mortgage credit outside of BCH was kept to a minimum at other financial institutions. It was not until the 1970's, with the advent of the UPAC system, when other banks started providing long-term mortgage loans. Since the 1990's the government has been subsidizing demand for the acquisition of low-income housing (Vivienda de Interés Social - VIS). Finally, amid the economic crisis of 2008 the government tried to promote the building industry by creating an interest-rate subsidy for housing purchases. In addition policy has been used in different ways for the same end.
