The leadership of the Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (MBAN) has listed three key challenges hobbling the effective stability of mortgage housing supplies in Nigeria.
In an interview in Lagos, the President of the association and Chief Executive Officer, TrustBond Mortgage Bank Plc., Adeniyi Akinlusi said whereas mortgage remains the global best way to access housing in many climes, the platform in Nigeria is suffering from three key issues.
The three problems include government’s ability to quicken the much needed private sector partnership and reliable partnerships with the mortgage banks.
Others are the problem of adequate support in regulatory and legal frameworks, as well as long term funds to match long term investments in housing sector.
He said if these challenges are taken care of, the industry is willing to create millions of jobs and protect the economy from routine shocks.
Continuing, he averred that government’s partnership and sincere reappraisal of the sector, would create loans in order to reach out to more people with subsidised rate of affordable housing.
He added that time has come to rest housing access by way of down payments; saying mortgage will give breathing space for millions of home seekers in several growth poles and cities across the federation.
Business Hilights Intelligence Unit (BHIU), the research arm of the publishing group had late last year reported in a release that “Well over 78 per cent of newly completed housing estates by private investors are yet to be rented or occupied due to the hostile business policy of total payment for apartments”.
BHIU also revealed that “About 69 per cent of existing high-rise buildings and condominiums in Lagos and Abuja are half-empty due to high rentage placed on them by their owners,” and expressed disappointments on why the Lagos State government failed to implement an advertised move to auction unoccupied skyscrapers within the Island and Ikoyi Central Business Districts (CBD) since last year till date.
