Lagos-based developer, Mixta Africa, has called for a construction finance framework to complement proposed housing reforms and strengthen the sector’s regulation.

The firm’s Group Chief Commercial Officer, Adetola Akinsulire, told journalists in Lagos that regulation and improved access to buyer finance alone would not address Nigeria’s housing deficit, as construction finance remained a critical missing link.

He said the proposed National Housing and Built Environment Regulation Policy and national mortgage industry policy addressed two of the sector’s three key challenges: trust deficit and buyer financing, while construction financing remained unresolved.

The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development recently disclosed that real estate and construction contributed more than N77 trillion to Nigeria’s economy in 2025, despite the absence of a unified regulatory framework.

The proposed reforms include developer registration, escrow protection, land value management, construction quality standards, urban renewal and a National Housing Data Observatory. They also propose a housing finance authority and a structured diaspora investment window.

Akinsulire said the reforms should be measured by their ability to build trust, improve access to buyer finance and expand construction funding.

He welcomed the proposed data observatory as a means of improving transparency and market intelligence but cautioned that better data alone would not increase housing supply.

He also urged policymakers to broaden the affordability debate beyond property prices to include repayment periods.

“Affordability is not just the price of the home. It’s the duration it takes for people to pay for it. A N60 million home is unaffordable if you have to pay for it in two years. But give someone the option to pay for that same property over 30 years, and it becomes affordable,” he said.

Nigeria’s mortgage-to-GDP ratio remains between 0.02 and 0.07 per cent, compared with about 30 per cent in South Africa and 70 per cent in the United Kingdom, underscoring the country’s limited mortgage market.

Akinsulire said Mixta Africa was developing starter homes for the mass market, adding that developer-led innovation could help improve affordability. He identified the proposed diaspora investment window as a potential early gain, given demand from Nigerians abroad and their familiarity with structured mortgage and property-financing products.

The firm also advocated linking escrow fund releases to independently verified construction milestones, stressing that buyer protection must go hand in hand with sustainable construction finance to enable credible developers to deliver homes at scale.