FMBN boss blames high interest rates for housing crisis

The Managing Director of The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Gimba Ya’u Kumo, has blamed the high and unaffordable interest rate systems used by many mortgage institutions as a major cause of housing crisis in Nigeria, saying that most Nigerians could not afford to tap into the current interest rate regime. He further listed the lack of long-term finance for housing development and mortgages as one of the major problems facing the country, saying that these problems were the motivation behind exorbitant housing prices.

Kumo bemoaned the colossal number of Nigerians left homeless, saying that a majority of those who actually had homes are living in less than favourable conditions, as a large majority of such houses stood in a great need of renovations.

He called for an intervention in the housing sector through affordable interest, provision of long-term finance for construction and mortgage, so as to curbing the housing crisis.

“The housing gap is very wide, with deficits of 17 to 20 million units needed to address the housing needs of Nigerians. For this to be achieved, there must be a serious intervention in the housing sector by way of affordable interest, providing long-term finance for both construction and mortgage, and thirdly, government introducing special taxes like tax holiday, amongst others. Since this government is a listening government, I’m sure they will begin to implement some of these policies”, he stated.