FG set to restructure, commercialise FHA

Owing to the failure of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) to work out affordable housing programmes for the less privileged and low income earners, the Federal Government has commenced processes to restructure and commercialise its operations.

Its commercialisation is being preceded by restructuring and for which Amal Pepple, minister of lands, housing and urban development, has on Monday, inaugurated a steering committee to review the FHA in its entirety and recommend cheaper ways of funding the housing sector in the country.

While this progresses, a Transition Technical Board set up by the Federal Government will oversee the affairs of the FHA up to the completion of the exercise, estimated to last 18 months.

The newly inaugurated steering committee will act on the interim report of the Project Design Advisory Team (PDAT), a committee earlier set up to evolve a workable housing policy for the country.

The PDAT’s interim report was after several meetings and site visits to various parts of the country where a number of observations were made, bordering on the operational challenges of FHA.

She said the committee was made up of experienced and knowledgeable professionals, carefully selected to deliver on the objectives.

“The committee was a major milestone in the collective and determined efforts of the present administration to make housing delivery more robust and efficient in line with the new housing policy and the Federal Government’s transformation agenda”.

The new committee will look at the reform components of the restructuring including legal, policy and regulatory framework for the new FHA, corporate vision, mission and re-branding and human resources management, right-sizing and skills-mapping.

Other components of the restructuring are financial reporting mechanism, development of key performance indices (KPIs), revenue cycle management and public-private partnership framework, among others.

The committee’s recommendations are expected to be in line with the current administration transformation agenda.

FHA came to this juncture due to its inability and that of its subsidiary, FHA Homes and Savings Limited, the primary mortgage institution (PMI), to evolve strategies to meet the housing needs of Nigerians.