The Mongolian government started implementing a mortgage loan program 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 Ulan Bator," Zorig Munkh-Orgil, first deputy CEO of the MIC, said at a workshop on air pollution and housing.

"A total of 95,000 borrowers have benefited from the housing program. Over 90 percent of them are residents of Ulan Bator," she said.

Air pollution is a pressing challenge for Ulan Bator, where over 800,000 residents, half of its population, live in the city's ger districts, with no running water, central heating or sewerage systems.

Ger residents use stoves and burn raw coal and other flammable materials to cook and keep warm during the region's six-month-long winter, a practice believed to be responsible for an estimated 80 percent of the air pollution in the capital city.

The Mongolian government has been striving to improve air quality in Ulan Bator by taking various measures, including banning the burning of low-grade coal for domestic use.

Housing is said to be one of the long-term solutions for reducing air pollution.