Talking Mortgage

proposed interest rate matching fund scheme and a home-grown initiative for tying mortgage to pensions, which will encourage homeownership and lower interest rate on mortgage.

The communiqué on the retreat, signed by MBAN president, Adeniyi Akinlusi and the Executive Secretary, Kayode Omotoso, noted that since infrastructure constituted 30 percent of the cost of housing delivery, federal, state and local governments should strive to provide support to estate developers by stepping up provision of infrastructure to enhance affordable delivery.

The association planned to embark on constructive engagement/ advocacy with the governments for improved infrastructural development to drive down the cost of housing delivery, especially for the low and middle-income earners.

They further recommended that Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and MBAN should take necessary steps to fast track the evolution of new business models that would include strategies to streamline on-line processes for access to the NHF scheme to mitigate the challenges of response time to secure approval from FMBN on National Housing Fund (NHF) loan applications. It was also agreed that both FMBN and MBAN should collaborate to create public awareness on the NHF scheme, and its critical imperative to mortgage for home ownership in Nigeria.

The mortgage firms agreed that MBAN should collaborate with other stakeholders such as the CBN, Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), FMBN and Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) for the purpose of approaching the National Assembly for expedited action on amendments to the various laws affecting the mortgage/housing sub-sector; especially those related to foreclosure.