Stakeholders Seek Speedy Passage of Foreclosure Bill into Law

Adedayo Akinwale

Stakeholders in the housing sector have called on the federal government to fast track the passage of the foreclosure bill into law, to legally resolve default issues in the sector.

They equally called for the establishment the National Housing Council as a focal point for housing research, policy development and implementation suitable for housing economic models that fits into local contexts and monitoring of the housing sector.

The stakeholders made the demand in a communique signed by Mr. Festus Adebayo, at the end of the 13th Abuja International Housing Show held in Abuja recently.

They stressed that in order to resolve the challenges of affordability mismatch resulting in unsold and unoccupied developed houses especially in major cities, there was an urgent need for a paradigm shift from market-driven pricing system to end user-driven pricing.

This, according to them, would ensure that houses are provided for those who need and could afford them.

The stakeholders also called on the federal government to create enabling policies around land title documentations, with government playing a larger role in assisting investors and supporting local building industries and materials.

The communique read: “Federal government should fast track the passage of foreclosure bill into law to legally resolve default issues in the sector.

“Also the review of Land Use Act, Federal Government Housing Loans Board bill (FGHLB), Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) bill and the National Housing Fund (NHF) bill.

“Advance the ongoing partnership between Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (MBAN) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with regards to the underwriting standards which can increase housing and mortgage affordability for the masses.

“The adoption of high impact training that supports research and data generation by major stakeholders within the industry.

“Building the right skill ecosystem through job-driven training programs spearheaded by private sector industry participation for adoption of trainees.”

They added: “Creating

standard data base in African countries especially in Nigeria that can be universally accepted to collate data, identify data gaps, integrate, optimise and expand knowledge set to meet current demands.

“The policy creation, adoption and financing of sustainable buildings that utilise green approach in construction which integrates topography into developments,” the communique stated.

The federal government had disclosed plan to provide affordable mass housing for Nigerians. The Chief Executive Officer of Family Homes Funds (FHF), Femi Adewole, had said some of the locations for the housing project were Kaduna, Kano, Lagos and Delta States. The government had also said over the next five years; it would invest N500 billion to bridge the housing deficit through the FHF. It had also said it was giving FHF N100 billion yearly for the next five years with anticipation that it was going to leverage one trillion naira of private resources.