FG Begins Process to Revamp Nigeria’s Housing Policy

The Federal Government has commenced a process to review, harmonise and adopt policy recommendations aimed at addressing persistent challenges in Nigeria’s housing and urban development sector.

The exercise is taking place during the 15th meeting of the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development, which opened in Sokoto on October 12 and is scheduled to run until October 16, 2026.

The meeting brings together representatives of federal and state governments, professional associations, regulatory bodies and other stakeholders to examine existing challenges and develop practical measures to improve housing delivery across the country.

The discussions are focused on strengthening mortgage financing, improving land administration and enhancing institutional coordination to support more inclusive access to decent and affordable housing.

The meeting is themed “Strengthening Mortgage, Land and Institutional Systems for Accelerated and Inclusive Housing Delivery.”

Three-Stage Process for Housing Policy Recommendations

The Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Mukhtar Iliyasu Umar, said the council had adopted a three-stage process to examine and develop its recommendations.

The first stage involves technical sessions during which directors and technical officers review memoranda, identify implementation challenges and develop evidence-based recommendations through thematic working groups.

The second stage is scheduled for Wednesday, October 14. Permanent secretaries representing the states, the Federal Capital Territory and the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development are expected to examine and harmonise the recommendations from the technical sessions.

The final stage, scheduled for Thursday, October 15, will involve the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, the Minister of State and commissioners from the states and the FCT. They will consider the reports and provide policy direction.

Umar said the process was designed to ensure that the council’s final decisions were supported by technical analysis and practical recommendations.

He urged participants to approach the exercise with diligence, objectivity and a sense of responsibility, stressing that the recommendations should be implementable and capable of addressing challenges in land administration, housing finance, institutional coordination and sustainable urban development.

The council is also expected to review the implementation of resolutions reached at its 14th meeting in Ilorin, Kwara State, before adopting a communiqué and determining the date and venue of its next meeting.

FG, States Seek More Affordable Mortgage Financing

Mortgage affordability has emerged as a key issue in the discussions, with stakeholders calling for lower interest rates and longer repayment periods to make homeownership more accessible.

Sokoto State Commissioner for Lands, Housing, Survey and Town Planning, Nasiru Aliyu Dantsoho, advocated reducing mortgage interest rates from double-digit levels to single digits.

He also called for mortgage repayment periods to be extended from 25 years to 35 years, arguing that the measures would reduce monthly repayments and improve access to housing for low- and middle-income earners.

Dantsoho said the housing challenge could not be addressed through construction alone without tackling the high cost of borrowing and the difficulties many Nigerians face in obtaining housing loans.

He also called for mortgage facilities to be extended beyond formally employed civil servants and private-sector workers to include traders, farmers and other people working in the informal economy.

According to him, financial institutions, particularly the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, should consider more flexible financing arrangements that reflect the income patterns of different occupations.

For farmers and other seasonal earners, he suggested repayment arrangements that accommodate their earning cycles, including payments after harvest, rather than rigid monthly obligations.

Land Administration Reforms Also Under Consideration

The council’s deliberations are also examining the role of land administration in improving housing supply and reducing barriers to property ownership.

Dantsoho called on state governments to digitise land administration systems to improve transparency, reduce processing delays, minimise disputes and make land documentation more accessible to prospective homeowners and property developers.

Permanent Secretary of the Sokoto State Ministry of Lands, Housing, Survey and Town Planning, Moyi Tambuwal, said land was not merely a physical asset but also a foundation for livelihoods, economic activity, social development and intergenerational wealth.

He explained that Sokoto State had continued to pursue reforms aimed at improving the efficiency of its land administration system.

These initiatives include digitising land records, reducing the time required to process Certificates of Occupancy and providing land for mass housing under the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Housing Programme.

Tambuwal said the measures reflected the state government’s efforts to establish a more transparent and responsive land administration system.

However, he acknowledged that addressing Nigeria’s housing challenges would require sustained reforms, stronger collaboration among institutions and innovative financing arrangements.

Stakeholders Highlight Scale of Housing Challenges

Dantsoho expressed concern about the country’s housing crisis, citing an estimated deficit of more than 14.5 million housing units and saying that approximately 50.6 million people lived in unsafe housing conditions.

He maintained that improving access to mortgages, simplifying land documentation and strengthening the institutions responsible for housing delivery were necessary to expand homeownership.

Tambuwal similarly stressed that adequate and affordable housing depended on more than the physical construction of buildings. He identified efficient land administration, accessible housing finance, effective institutions, appropriate policies and coordination between governments and the private sector as essential components.

He added that the council meeting provided an opportunity for stakeholders to move beyond identifying problems and develop workable solutions.

The meeting is also expected to encourage policy harmonisation, the exchange of experience and stronger cooperation with institutions such as the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and Family Homes Funds.

Government Seeks Practical Outcomes from the Review

Umar said the quality of the council’s final decisions would depend on the strength of its technical analysis, the quality of its recommendations and the effectiveness of the harmonisation process.

Tambuwal urged officials to scrutinise the memoranda before them, challenge existing assumptions, identify institutional weaknesses and propose solutions that could be implemented within Nigeria’s economic and administrative realities.

He said the success of the council should be measured by the practical impact of its decisions on access to land, affordable mortgages and decent housing, rather than simply by the number of memoranda reviewed or resolutions adopted.

The deliberations come amid rising housing costs, rapid urbanisation and continuing difficulties faced by low-income households in securing decent accommodation.

The recommendations emerging from the meeting are expected to inform policy discussions on mortgage accessibility, land governance and institutional reforms, with the broader objective of improving housing delivery and expanding homeownership opportunities across Nigeria.