The Federal Government, in collaboration with state governments, has initiated measures to strengthen mortgage and land systems to accelerate inclusive housing delivery in Nigeria.
Nasiru Dantsoho, the Sokoto State Commissioner for Lands, Housing, Survey and Town Planning, said this at the opening of the 15th National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development meeting on Monday in Sokoto.
Dantsoho advocated single-digit interest rates on mortgage loans, down from the current double-digit rates, and an extension of mortgage tenures from 25 to 35 years to make repayments more affordable.
He also called for expanded access to mortgages beyond the formal public and private sectors to include Nigerians in the informal sector, particularly traders and farmers, who constitute a large proportion of the population but are often excluded from housing finance policies.
He urged financial institutions, including the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), to provide adequate funding and flexible repayment plans tailored to seasonal earners, such as farmers who could repay loans after harvest.
The commissioner stressed the need for states to digitise land administration to improve efficiency and transparency.
Dantsoho said the meeting was strategically focused on ensuring that policies enabled every citizen to access decent housing.
He commended Gov. Ahmed Aliyu for prioritising urbanisation and transforming Sokoto from a largely rural setting into an increasingly urban centre, noting that anyone who visited the state four or five years ago would observe tremendous changes.
He lamented that Nigeria faced a housing deficit of more than 14.5 million units, with about 50.6 million people living in unsafe houses, describing the situation as worrisome.
In his speech, Mukhtar Umar, Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, said the meeting provided a critical platform to examine challenges affecting the housing sector and develop practical solutions to improve housing delivery nationwide.
He explained that the meeting was structured in stages, beginning with a detailed examination of memoranda by directors and technical officers through various thematic working groups. The groups would review issues, identify challenges, assess proposed interventions and develop clear, practical and actionable recommendations.
According to him, permanent secretaries from the states, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the Federal Ministry would consider the outcomes of the technical deliberations, further examine and harmonise the recommendations, and ensure that issues requiring policy direction were adequately captured.
Umar added that the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, the Minister of State, and commissioners from the states and the FCT would consider the reports and recommendations, deliberate on the memoranda and provide the necessary policy direction.
He said the final council session would also review the implementation status of decisions reached at the 14th meeting held in Ilorin, Kwara, to assess progress, identify outstanding issues and strengthen accountability.
The director said the council would also determine the venue and date for the 16th meeting before adopting the communiqué.
On his part, Moyi Tambuwal, Permanent Secretary of the Sokoto State Ministry of Lands, Housing, Survey and Town Planning, said land was not merely a physical resource but also the foundation of livelihoods, economic activity, social development and intergenerational heritage.
Tambuwal said the Sokoto State Government, in recognition of land’s importance, continued to pursue reforms, including the ongoing digitisation of land records, efforts to reduce the processing time for Certificates of Occupancy and the provision of land for mass housing development under the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Housing Programme.
According to him, these interventions reflected the state’s determination to build a more efficient, transparent and responsive land administration system.
He, however, acknowledged that the scale of the housing challenge required sustained reforms, stronger institutional collaboration and innovative approaches to housing finance.
The permanent secretary said: “The delivery of adequate and affordable housing requires more than physical construction. It also requires an efficient land administration framework, accessible housing finance, effective institutions, appropriate policies and strong coordination among the federal and state governments and the private sector.
“Access to affordable mortgage finance remains critical to expanding home ownership for civil servants, traders, farmers, young professionals and the growing youth population.”
He added that the council provided an opportunity to move beyond identifying challenges towards developing workable solutions, sharing experiences, harmonising policies and strengthening collaboration with institutions such as the FMBN, Family Homes Funds and other stakeholders.
Tambuwal urged technical officials to critically examine memoranda, challenge existing assumptions, identify institutional gaps and develop innovative, realistic, practical and implementable solutions.
The permanent secretary further noted that the success of the council should be measured by the extent to which its resolutions eased access to land, expanded housing finance and accelerated the provision of decent and affordable housing for Nigerians.
The meeting, themed “Strengthening Mortgage, Land and Institutional Systems for Accelerated and Inclusive Housing Delivery,” attracted land administrators, private developers and other participants from the 36 states of the federation.
