Lagos Partners NMRC on Mortgage Financing

Professor Charles Inyangete.

Lagos State government has said that it would enter into partnership with Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) to make housing affordable to its citizens.

The Commissioner for Housing, Prince Gbolahan Lawal stated this during a meeting of the Ministry and its agencies with the management of the NMRC led by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Professor Charles Inyangete.

He said that State will be prepared to sign a Memorandum of Understanding as soon as both parties agree on the terms and modalities of the facilities, which are geared towards alleviating the burden of financing mortgages in the State.



Lawal reiterated that Lagos State has positioned itself positively in terms of provision of mortgage law and the establishment of necessary institutions to facilitate a value-chain approach in financing housing.

“Government is working towards reducing poverty, because home ownership goes beyond shelter as it is a major investment, as such, we are making effort to tackle housing challenges.

“We commissioned empirically based studies that were carried out across the state to ascertain the various needs that can guide government in its quest to reducing housing deficits”, Lawal said.

The Commissioner reiterated Lagos’ commitment to the continuous provision of mass housing to the residents noting that the provision of mass housing is part of government’s efforts to tackle the current housing deficit being faced in the state as a result of population increase and influx of people into the state. He spoke further that government could not shoulder the responsibility alone and that is why developers are invited to partner with the Ministry.

“As part of the outcome of our interaction with the representatives of the real estate sector, held recently, the involvement of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) has received boost as many of the actors had shown interest in our various projects, especially, in options such as rent-to-own initiative.

“That is why we are exploring a collaboration with the Mortgage financing company that could enable the people have more access to homes as there are a huge number of houses that are yet to be accessed by the public”, Lawal said.

Sourced- TheGuardian