The Federal Government and state governments have called for reforms in land administration and mortgage financing to improve access to affordable housing for Nigerians.
The Sokoto State Commissioner for Lands, Housing, Survey and Country Planning, Mr Nasiru Aliyu Dantsoho, made the call at the 15th meeting of the National Council on Land, Housing and Urban Development (NCLHUD), which began in Sokoto on Monday.
Dantsoho advocated a reduction in mortgage interest rates from the current double-digit levels to single digits, alongside an extension of mortgage repayment periods from 25 to 35 years.
He said the measures would reduce repayment burdens and enable more Nigerians to own homes.
The meeting, holding from October 12 to October 16, has as its theme: “Strengthening Mortgage, Land and Institutional Systems for Accelerated and Inclusive Housing Delivery.”
Dantsoho expressed concern over Nigeria’s housing deficit, estimated at more than 14.5 million units, noting that about 50.6 million people lived in unsafe housing conditions.
He described the situation as worrisome and called for urgent and sustained interventions to address the country’s housing challenges.
The commissioner also urged the expansion of mortgage financing to accommodate Nigerians in the informal sector, particularly traders, farmers and self-employed individuals who are often excluded from existing housing finance arrangements.
He called on financial institutions, including the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), to provide adequate funding and introduce flexible repayment plans that reflected the income patterns of different categories of borrowers.
Dantsoho further stressed the need to digitise land administration systems across states to improve efficiency, promote transparency and ease access to land for housing development.
Earlier, the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Mr Mukhtar Iliyasu Umar, said the council provided an important platform for stakeholders to examine challenges in the housing sector and develop practical solutions.
Umar said the meeting would adopt a three-stage deliberation process to consider, harmonise and approve policy recommendations aimed at addressing critical challenges in housing and urban development.
He noted that the quality of the council’s final decisions would depend on the depth of technical analysis, the quality of recommendations and the effectiveness of the harmonisation process.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Sokoto State Ministry of Lands and Housing, Mr Ahmad Moyi Tambuwal, highlighted the state’s efforts to improve land administration.
He listed the digitisation of land records, reduction in the time required to process Certificates of Occupancy and the provision of land for mass housing projects under the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Housing Programme among the ongoing initiatives.
Tambuwal said affordable housing delivery required more than the construction of houses, stressing the importance of efficient land administration, accessible mortgage financing, effective policies and stronger collaboration between government institutions and private-sector stakeholders.
