The Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN) has called on Nigeria’s legislature to enact stronger mortgage laws and housing finance guarantees to bridge the country’s housing deficit and improve access to affordable housing.
The call was made in a statement issued in Abuja by the Executive Director of HDAN, Festus Adebayo, on Sunday.
The proposals formed part of wider legislative recommendations aimed at addressing structural gaps in Nigeria’s housing sector.
What they are saying
HDAN said Nigeria must prioritise legal reforms and guarantee systems to unlock mortgage financing and deepen access to housing credit.
The group stressed that without structural reforms, the housing deficit will continue to widen despite policy interventions.
- “Housing is not just a real estate issue; it is economic infrastructure. Without deliberate laws that support housing finance, land access, and construction efficiency, the dream of homeownership for low- and middle-income Nigerians will remain out of reach,” Adebayo stated.
- “The Network stressed the need for a clear and efficient foreclosure framework that reduces lending risks and encourages financial institutions to provide long-term mortgage financing at affordable rates,” the statement read.
- “HDAN called for the creation of a government-backed mortgage guarantee system to de-risk lending, particularly for low-income earners and workers in the informal sector.”
HDAN added that predictable foreclosure processes and risk-sharing mechanisms are essential to strengthen lender confidence and expand mortgage penetration in Nigeria.
More insights
Beyond mortgage guarantees, HDAN is also advocating broader reforms to improve housing delivery and affordability across the value chain.
- The group urged tax incentives, VAT reliefs, and stronger public-private partnership frameworks to attract investment into affordable housing development.
- It also called for the expansion of housing finance institutions such as the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, alongside the development of mortgage-backed securities to support long-term funding.
- HDAN further recommended support for local building materials production, innovation in construction methods, and alternative housing models such as rent-to-own schemes and cooperative housing systems.
These measures, it said, would help reduce construction costs and expand access to housing for underserved populations.
Flashback
The push for mortgage reform comes amid ongoing concerns about underfunding and structural inefficiencies in Nigeria’s housing finance system. The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has repeatedly highlighted significant undercapitalisation challenges limiting its ability to expand affordable housing finance.
The bank has also raised concerns over non-compliance by commercial banks and insurance companies with statutory contributions to the National Housing Fund, which has constrained funding availability for mortgage lending.
FMBN has since proposed alternative contribution models and is also pursuing recapitalisation efforts to strengthen its lending capacity, with targets reportedly in the hundreds of billions of naira.
What you should know
Nigeria continues to face significant challenges in land documentation and housing data management, which directly affect mortgage expansion and property financing.
- Less than 10% of land in Nigeria is formally registered and titled, according to the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, limiting access to verifiable collateral for housing loans.
- In response, the Federal Government partnered with the World Bank in 2024 to increase land formalisation to 50% over 10 years under a national documentation programme aimed at unlocking over $300 billion in dead capital.
- At the state level, Lagos has also launched initiatives to formalise informal land assets estimated at N3 trillion, using digital mapping and public-private partnerships to improve land records.
Experts say these reforms, if effectively implemented, could significantly strengthen housing finance systems by improving transparency, reducing disputes, and increasing the availability of bankable land assets for mortgage lending.
