Council approves establishment of national mortgage registry, housing fund

• Authorises states to use federal secretariat complexes
• Adopts use of arbitration in contracts, tenants’ disputes

The National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development has approved the establishment of a national mortgage registry to serve as a repository for all mortgage transactions in the country and centralise registries of federal, state and local councils.

It also agreed that the registry resided in the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) in furtherance of its critical role as the enhancer of development of the mortgage sub-sector and approved the establishment of a National Social Housing Fund, as well as building materials manufacturing hubs in the six geo-political zones of the federation.

The body urged state and local councils to adopt uniform land registry practices and automation of their processes within a reasonable timeframe as may be prescribed to interlink with the proposed national mortgage registry; and encourage states to consider the review of the Foreclosure Law in the Mortgage and Property Law to strengthen further the interest of local and foreign Investors in the housing sector.

The council is the decision-making organ and comprises relevant stakeholders in the housing sector from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. Membership includes ministers in the Housing and Urban Development, National Assembly members, federal ministries, agencies, representatives of regulatory and professional bodies, academia, state permanent secretaries, and commissioners.

In a communique issued and signed by the Minister, of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, after the 12th Meeting of the council, themed: Harnessing Local and International Credit Schemes as A Panacea For Affordable Housing Infrastructure held in Kaduna State, the council also approved the setting up of agric villages to address housing and food shortages, as well as policy on reservation and preservation of agricultural lands that should be backed by enactment and monitored by states to discourage abuses.

The council advised the government at all levels to review policies on housing in terms of increased funding to increase access to affordable housing.

To ensure adequate compensation, it agreed to a periodic review at an interval of five years for crop/economic tree rates and initiation of the process of the implementation of the National Technical Development Forum on Land Administration.

A high point of the meeting is approval for the adoption of arbitration rules of the Institute of Construction Industry Arbitrators in construction contracts or building agreements, including tenancies, leases and maintenance/facility management contracts to forestall the natural tendency of parties to resort to litigation.

All such agreements are to use the clause in contracts, “Any dispute or claim arising out of, or relating to this agreement, including any question regarding its existence, interpretation, validity, breach or termination thereof, shall be referred to and settled by arbitration which shall be conducted under the Arbitration and Mediation Act of Nigeria, 2023.”

The stakeholders urged the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to empower and support agencies under it to access cheaper funds from the global financial market and also accelerate the passage of the Housing Infrastructural Development Fund Bills to cater for the housing needs of the citizenry.

They also urged government at all levels to encourage the private sector to maximise the utilisation of local building materials such as stabilised block, laterite, and woods, among others to bring down the cost of construction and make housing affordable to the citizens, as well as consider Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) model for replication in housing delivery.

The body further recommended the adoption of the Kaduna State Model of land swap by states with land and those with land constraints to develop models peculiar to them, as well as relevant authorities to grant waivers and tax holidays on certain construction items, technology and building materials for their profiled and procured developers investing in affordable housing.