FMBN to determine housing deficit in Nigeria by 2018 – MD
NAN-HE-2
Housing
By Emmanuel Acha
Enugu, Oct. 27, 2016 (NAN) Mr Richard Esin, the Acting Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), said plans were under way to determine the actual housing deficit in Nigeria by 2018.
Esin who spoke on Thursday in Enugu at the 1st Enugu Housing Development Forum, said Nigeria had no reliable statistics to backup the housing deficit in the country.
He said that the current 17 million deficits was a figure that had been around and could not be realistic.
“The 17 million deficits has been one figure that has been around for a while. It is over 10 years since we started hearing about it.
“We are trying to work with other stakeholders to build some statistics around the housing sector.
“We have already started talking with the National Population Commission (NPC), so that when they are conducting the population census proposed for 2018, we will work with them to determine the housing deficit,” he said.
Esin regretted that the Nigerian mortgage system was still underdeveloped in driving home ownership.
He said that a larger chunk of the FMBN resources would henceforth be channelled to providing mortgages for contributors who earn below N10 million per annum.
“Our focus is now primarily on low and medium income earners.
“If we do that there will be a profound impact in the number of people that will be able to promote home ownership in the country.
“This will address the home ownership needs of over 75 per cent of the population and promote opportunities for employment creation in a sustainable manner,” he said.
Esin said that a block of eight flats could generate 93 direct and indirect jobs per site, halve the growing housing deficit figure and create relative demand for value chain services.
He said that the Ministry of Housing was bringing a certain level of standardisation into the housing construction sector.
“This is meant to encourage people who want to invest in the value chain activities to come on board,” Esin said. (NAN)
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Edited by Fela Fashoro/Obike Ukoh
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