The National Coordinator, MOFI Real Estate Investment Fund (MREIF), Mr Sani Yakubu, says Nigeria requires about N60 trillion to bridge its housing deficit.
Newsextra24 reports that Yakubu said this on Wednesday at a webinar organised by First Bank of Nigeria Ltd.
The event had the theme “Beyond Rent: The Path to Home Ownership Leveraging FirstBank-MREIF Home Loan Scheme to Build Long-Term Wealth.”
He said Nigeria’s housing deficit stood at more than 20 million homes, while annual housing delivery remained around 100,000 units.
According to him, the country needed to increase annual housing delivery to about 700,000 units to significantly address the deficit.
Yakubu said MREIF was established through a public-private partnership to address challenges of housing affordability and supply.
He said the fund’s first N250 billion tranche comprised N150 billion from the federal government and N100 billion from private investors.
He said the N250 billion tranche formed part of a N1 trillion MREIF programme registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Yakubu said the partnership with FirstBank was providing Nigerians with access to affordable mortgage financing for residential property acquisition.
He said the intervention was designed to catalyse the housing sector without displacing existing mortgage providers.
Also speaking, Mr Olubiyi Adekunbi, Head of Real Estate Investment, ARM Investment Managers, said MREIF had deployed more than N140 billion to over 2,000 beneficiaries since mortgage disbursements began in April.
Adekunbi said beneficiaries had accessed mortgages in 27 states across the country.
According to him, the scheme offers loans of up to N100 million at an interest rate of 9.75 per cent for a maximum tenure of 20 years, subject to the applicant’s retirement age.
He said applicants were required to provide a minimum 10 per cent equity contribution, which could be augmented with up to 25 per cent of their retirement savings account balance, subject to eligibility.
He said the scheme was open to Nigerian residents in the country and the diaspora, provided the property had a valid registered title.
Adekunbi urged prospective beneficiaries to approach FirstBank to commence the application process and obtain guidance on the requirements.
The Head, Personal Banking, FirstBank, Mr Chukwuka Okonkwo, said the mortgage scheme would help democratise access to affordable home ownership across Nigeria.
Okonkwo said the scheme was designed to address major barriers to home ownership, including affordability, access to mortgages, property verification and documentation.
He said the bank would finance completed properties with verifiable and clean titles.
Okonkwo said applicants must be at least 18 years old, resident in Nigeria, have stable income and demonstrate repayment capacity.
He said FirstBank was also partnering with developers and state housing corporations to expand access to affordable housing.
Mr Olufemi Adebayo, Executive Director, Sales and Investments, Leadway Pensure PFA Ltd., said eligible pension contributors could access up to 25 per cent of their RSA balance for home ownership.
Adebayo said applicants must have contributed for at least five years, remain in active employment and have at least three years before retirement.
He said Leadway Pensure had processed more than 70,000 applications and disbursed over N70 billion under the scheme.
The partnership between FirstBank and MREIF is aimed at expanding access to long-term mortgage financing and supporting efforts to reduce Nigeria’s housing deficit.
