…To Establish National Housing Finance Authority
The Federal Government hinted on Thursday that it was considering to increase the maximum mortgage loan from N50 million to N85 million as part of its efforts to improve housing finance for millions of Nigerians to enable them own their houses
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Dr Muttaqha Rabe-Darma, who gave this hint at the 15th National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development in Sokoto, said that with the proposed upward review of mortgage facility, the government was targeting 2,000 mortgages in 2026 and 5,000 by 2028.
According to him, under the new arrangement the government is targeting the allocation of between 30% and 40% of mortgage bookings to workers in the informal sector, who for now face difficulties accessing conventional housing finance due to their irregular incomes and limited access to formal lending arrangements.
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The minister explained: “The federal government is targeting 5,000 mortgages by 2028 and proposing to increase the maximum mortgage loan from N50 million to N85 million to improve access to homeownership.
“The federal government is directing the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to increase mortgage disbursements, with a target of disbursing at least 70 per cent of the previous year’s National Housing Fund (NHF) contributions through mortgages annually”, Rabe-Darma added.
The minister clarified that the directive was intended to bridge the gap between workers’ contributions to the NHF and the actual delivery of housing finance.
Also, he disclosed that government was planning to establish a National Housing Finance Authority to coordinate regulation and strengthen accountability in the housing finance sector, adding that the recently launched Diaspora Mortgage Programme will provide Nigerians living abroad with opportunities to invest in homeownership in the country.
To deepen mortgages at the grassroots, Rabe-Darma also said that the government was working towards constructing 100 housing units in each of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas as part of efforts to address the country’s housing deficit, adding that a functional mortgage system is necessary to enable citizens to acquire them.
Citing Rwanda’s experience in expanding its mortgage market through institutional reforms and mortgage refinancing mechanisms, the minister maintained that Nigeria could learn from countries that had taken deliberate steps to improve access to housing finance.
He, therefore, charged relevant institutions and stakeholders in the real estate sector to support the reforms, pointing out that effective implementation, transparency and accountability will be crucial to achieving the government’s housing delivery objectives.
In his address at the forum, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Urban Development and Regional Planning, Hon. Awaji-Inombek Abiante, listed several policy measures that were needed to bridge the nation housing deficit.
Specifically, the lawmaker advocated the need for single-digit interest rates on mortgage loans, a review of housing prices, transparent and efficient land registration processes, effective development control and the introduction of a National Housing Identification Number to reduce the housing gap nationwide.
