Fresh hope for civil servants as implementation of new conditions for accessing NHF loans begins

Hope is on the way for civil servants, especially those who contribute to the National Housing Fund (NHF), as the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) commences the implementation of new approved conditions for accessing loans from the fund.
The new condition for accessing loans from the fund is a continuation of a renewed FMBN management drive to break down longstanding financial barriers to home ownership by Nigerian workers. This includes zero equity contribution for the provision of housing loans of up to N5 million and 10 percent contribution for housing loans ranging from N6 million to N15 million by contributors to the NHF.
The revised requirements, which were recently approved by the FMBN Board, represent a 100 percent reduction in the equity that contributors to the housing fund were hitherto expected to bring before they could access the housing loans i.e. 5 percent and 20 percent for the two housing loan bands of up to N5 million and N15 million, respectively.
The implication of this is that contributors to NHF who want to buy a house, say, two bedroom bungalow can conveniently apply for loan from the fund without fear of being asked to bring up to 20 percent or 30 percent equity contribution, which remains a major barrier to housing loan in the country.
This means that a lot more civil servants will be able to buy houses, leading to improved social security, high productivity, more contributions to GDP, and also reduction in the ever-widening housing demand-supply gap which, as at today, stands at 17 million units.
“This downward revisions represents a key milestone in the new executive management’s drive to ensure that more Nigerian workers can afford decent and quality housing,” Ahmed Dangiwa, managing director/CEO of FMBN, said in a statement obtained by BusinessDay in Lagos.
“I am delighted that we have been able to achieve this ground-breaking feat. It is a huge win for the Nigerian workers and particularly those that contribute to the National Housing Fund (NHF).
“It will go a long way towards reducing the financial burden of homeownership that contributors to the fund have been carrying for the past three decades,” Dangiwa added, recalling that when they came on board, they realised that the existing equity contribution put too much pressure on workers. “I am glad that today, we have been able to crash it by over 100 percent,” he enthused.
He advised existing contributors to take advantage of the new friendly conditions to secure loans to purchase or build their homes, calling on those who were not currently registered with the NHF to do so through FMBN offices located in the states nationwide so they too could take advantage.
Dangiwa thanked Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing, for his continued support towards the attainment of the feat, the FMBN Board and executive management for the hard work they are putting in towards reforming the bank for greater impact.
It would be recalled that the FMBN which manages the NHF scheme was established by Act 3 of 1992 to enable Nigerians in all sectors of the economy, particularly those within the low and medium income levels who cannot afford commercial housing loans, such as civil servants, traders, artisans, and commercial drivers etc to own houses.
FMBN provides mortgage loans from the pool of funds available to the NHF at 4 percent interest to accredited Primary Mortgage Banks for on-lending at 6 percent to NHF contributors over a maximum tenor of 30 years, which is secured by the mortgaged property.
A contributor can access up to N15 million from the Fund through an accredited primary mortgage bank (PMB) as a mortgage loan to build, buy, improve or renovate own home after six months of continuous contributions. These lending conditions make the NHF unequalled as a vehicle for affordable housing delivery in Nigeria.

 
CHUKA UROKO