The federal government is proposing to increase the maximum mortgage loan from N50 million to N85 million to improve access to homeownership.

Housing and urban development minister Muttaqha Rabe-Darma disclosed this at the 15th National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development on Thursday in Sokoto.

He said, “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 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.”

He said the government was also targeting 2,000 mortgages in the current year, with the figure expected to rise to 5,000 by 2028. According to him, the initiative is aimed at bridging the gap between workers’ contributions to the NHF and the actual delivery of housing finance.

Mr Rabe-Darma also said the government was targeting the allocation of between 30 and 40 per cent of mortgage bookings to informal-sector workers. According to him, many of them face difficulties accessing formal housing finance because of irregular incomes and limited access to conventional lending arrangements.

He said the proposed reforms were designed to strengthen the housing finance system and ensure that more Nigerian workers benefit from their contributions to the NHF. According to him, the federal government plans to establish a National Housing Finance Authority to strengthen regulation of the housing finance sector and expand access to affordable mortgages for Nigerians.

Mr Rabe-Darma said the proposed authority would provide a coordinated regulatory framework, strengthen accountability and improve the overall performance of the country’s housing finance sector. The minister also said the recently launched Diaspora Mortgage Programme would provide Nigerians living abroad with opportunities to invest in homeownership in their home country.

(NAN)