The project, to be spearheaded by the newly established Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company, will enable the citizens to own their houses at affordable rates.

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, while speaking at the inauguration of the scheme in Abuja, said with the commencement of the project, low income earners would begin to have the opportunity to own their houses under a flexible payment package.

Findings revealed that under the scheme, a unit of two-bedroom apartment might be sold for between N4.5m and N7.5m, depending on the location; while the three-bedroom apartment would be sold from N8m.

Okonjo-Iweala said unlike in the past when it was difficult for Nigerians to own their houses through affordable mortgages; the process had now been simplified.

For instance, she said that under the new framework, the processing time for application for the mass housing project had been reduced from between six and 18 months to just six weeks.

The minister said with the inauguration of the NMRC in January and its subsequent take off in June, the key barrier of finance to develop accessible and affordable housing in Nigeria had been removed.

“We want Nigerians to own their houses at affordable costs. The NMRC’s mission is to provide long-term funding for the housing sector.

“Since the ability of banks in providing mortgages is limited by the fact that 80 per cent of all the deposits are on 30-day period, which does not ensure great level of sustainability in providing resources for the housing sector, the NMRC is here to ensure greater access to financing of up to 10 to 15 years.

“So, instead of people not being able to own houses as they would have to pay up in 12 or 18 months; we are changing that now so that for 10 to 15 years, people can be able to pay for their own houses.”

Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Akon Eyakenyi, said the commencement of the scheme was a significant step in the Federal Government’s bid to reduce the housing deficit in the country.

She said apart from the mortgage housing project being spearheaded by the NMRC, the ministry was implementing other complimentary projects to help provide affordable houses for Nigerians.

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Okonjo-Iweala who stated this at a Stakeholders Housing Summit in Abuja, said that the government had already received funds for the programme from the World Bank and additional $25 million (about N4.1 billion) for micro financing and mass housing initiative.

She said the 25 million dollars would be utilised for the mass housing initiative and to help persons at the bottom of the society to repair their old houses.

She assured that the NMRC would begin operations at the end of June, 2014, stating that money would be pushed into the system if state governors would be ready to release Certificates of Ownership of Lands.

The minister said that the summit would come up with the criteria for accessing the mortgage loans.

She described the progarmme as “a very important milestone” of the Federal Government in its effort to provide affordable housing for all Nigerians.

Okonjo-Iweala said that government would ensure that the project was realisable. “We are here to ensure that at the end of this year, so many Nigerians will say that as a result of this initiative, they have been able to buy a piece of land to construct their houses.

“I am hoping that at the end of this occasion, we would have launched an initiative where 10,000 Nigerians who do not have houses today will have access to housing,’’ she stressed.

Okonjo-Iweala also said that the new mortgage system would be an avenue to create jobs for young Nigerians.

“We have not yet created enough jobs to meet the number of entrants in the labour market each year; it is not that we are not creating jobs, but the issue is that we still have a gap of about 200,000 jobs.

“We have to work harder to meet that gap because also accumulated over the years is a pool of about 5.3 million unemployed Nigerians. You do not only have to deal with the pool entering into the market, but also the number that has been there without jobs,’’ she said.

The minister said effective housing sector would have significant multiplier effects that could create mass employment in the construction and building industry and related industries.

Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Akon Eyakenyi, expressed optimism that governors in the 14 pilot states of the project would strive to enhance operations of their mortgage companies.

Eyakenyi assured that the ministry would continue to collaborate with all stakeholders to provide enabling policies, strategies and plans for the realisation of the housing initiative.

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