The Association of Housing Corporations of
Nigeria (AHCN) is calling on all other state governments to adopt this
model for provision of affordable and sustainable housing for their citizens.
The
law is expected to fast-track the process for creating legal mortgages
(including reducing the cost and the processes for obtaining the relevant
consents and registration), timely resolution of disputes arising out of
mortgage transactions, consumer protection and creating an efficient
foreclosure process.
They
also advised the Federal Government to recognise the potentials of state
housing corporations in mitigating the huge shortfall in Nigerian housing
sector. AHCN lamented that its potentials had over the years been cut short as
a result of political interference and called on government to take appropriate
steps to strengthen and embrace emerging partnership options for effective
delivery of decent and affordable mass housing as well as promote effectiveness
and profitability of housing agencies.
The
association posited that there are inherent opportunities in business synergies
and strategic alliances to reduce cost and expand into new markets in housing
provision through effective partnership models with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, (FMBN) to enhance wholesale
mortgage lending and origination in addressing housing shortfall in Nigeria.
In a
communiqué issued at the end of its two-day National Workshop on, “Emerging Partnership Options For Decent And
Affordable Mass Housing” held in Imo State, the forum applauded the roles
of Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company in sustainable housing mortgage system
and challenged governments to speed up the development of a legal framework for
judicial enforcement of mortgages and foreclosure legislations to boost
investors’ confidence and streamline bureaucracies in the Nigeria’s mortgage
market.
According
to AHCN, the current level of underdevelopment of Nigerian Mortgage sector in
driving homeownership is worrisome as more than 90% of new homes utilise funds
from personal savings for incremental construction of which overall mortgages
account for less than one per cent of National Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and
real estate accounts for just about 8per cent, as opposed to 35% and 65%
respectively in other developing and developed economies of the world.
AHCN
therefore resolves to take advantage of the $300 billion World Bank funds for
the Nigeria Housing Finance Programme
(NHFP) of which only $120 million was drawn by the NMRC to date and calls
on all state governments to support their housing agencies to access these
funds for provision of housing for their citizens.
To
address the issue of non-availability of data base for off-takers on real
estate and mortgage information management which constituted major challenge to
the development of mortgage system in Nigeria, the Association resolves to
kick-start a pilot scheme of Home Ownership Off-takers Affordability Survey
Data base from first quarter of 2018 with a creation of a verifiable working
database of about 1,000 workers per selected state.
“The initiative is in a partnership with Value Chain Project
Consultants, it would pre-qualify AHCN for their actual housing needs and
mortgages to acquire same in all the states of the federation. The meeting
therefore reiterates its call on the Federal Government through the CBN on the
need to provide revolving housing fund and inject a minimum of N500 billion
loans as intervention funds into the real estate sector at a single digit to
develop the housing sector.
“The workshop commends the recent FMBN review of the off-takers
guarantee which makes it acceptable and bankable in favour of housing
corporations to enable them access construction loans from commercial banks and
calls on all state governments to support their housing corporations to take
advantage of this opportunities for mass housing projects,” it stated.
The
communiqué signed by AHCN’s President, Muhammed
Baba Adamu, and the Secretary; Olusola
Martins, observed the lackadaisical attitude of governments to the National
Housing Fund as opposed to what obtained when the policy was newly introduced
and admonished that all outstanding contributions to the NHF should be remitted
while the statutory provisions of the National Housing Policy should be
strictly enforced and applied as well as the sanctions embedded in the policy.
The
workshop noted that some state governments have pulled out of the National
Housing Fund which will rob civil servants in such states of the inherent
benefits of accessing mortgage loans through NHF. “In
view of the propose housing development programme to be embarked upon by the
Association in all the states of the federation, the workshop call on all
states that have pulled out of the funds to return to provide opportunities for
civil servants in such states to benefit from the funds,” it said.
On
governments’ plans to construct over 17,000 housing units in each of the 36
states and the FCT under the National Housing Programme, AHCN urged the
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde
Raji Fashola (SAN), to make use of state housing agencies in execution of
the projects as well as adoption of local building materials and more efficient
NBRRI building technologies to bring down the pricing of the housing units for
the people.
Speaking
on the Nigerian property market, the association described it as huge with the
capacity to contribute about 15per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and
employ five to seven million people with its multiplier effects if well
harnessed. The gathering, which was also the 97th Council Meeting/44th Annual
General Meeting of AHCN further resolved to kick-start the retraining of
housing personnel especially professionals that supervises projects on sites to
drive production of quality housing and the daunting task of mitigating housing
shortage in the country. (Guardian)
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