The Federal Government is proposing to increase the maximum mortgage loan available to Nigerians from N50 million to N85 million as part of efforts to expand access to homeownership and improve housing finance.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Dr Muttaqha Rabe-Darma, disclosed this on Thursday at the 15th National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development in Sokoto.
He said the government was targeting 2,000 mortgages in 2026 and 5,000 by 2028.
FG targets informal-sector workers
Rabe-Darma said the government was targeting the allocation of between 30% and 40% of mortgage bookings to workers in the informal sector, many of whom face difficulties accessing conventional housing finance because of irregular incomes and limited access to formal lending arrangements.
- “The federal government is targeting 5,000 mortgages by 2028 and proposing to increase the maximum mortgage loan from N50 million to N85 million to improve access to homeownership,” he said
- “The federal government is directing the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to increase mortgage disbursements, with a target of disbursing at least 70 per cent of the previous year’s National Housing Fund (NHF) contributions through mortgages annually,” the minister added.
According to him, the directive is intended to bridge the gap between workers’ contributions to the NHF and the actual delivery of housing finance.
The minister also disclosed plans to establish a National Housing Finance Authority to coordinate regulation and strengthen accountability in the housing finance sector.
Rabe-Darma added that the recently launched Diaspora Mortgage Programme would provide Nigerians living abroad with opportunities to invest in homeownership in the country.
FG targets 100 housing units in each LGA
The minister said the government was working towards constructing 100 housing units in each of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas as part of efforts to address the country’s housing deficit.
- He stressed that sustainable housing delivery required more than building houses, noting that a functional mortgage system was necessary to enable citizens to acquire them.
- Rabe-Darma cited Rwanda’s experience in expanding its mortgage market through institutional reforms and mortgage refinancing mechanisms, saying Nigeria could learn from countries that had taken deliberate steps to improve access to housing finance.
- The minister urged relevant institutions and stakeholders to support the reforms, stressing that effective implementation, transparency and accountability would be essential to achieving the government’s housing delivery objectives.
- Also speaking, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Urban Development and Regional Planning, Awaji-Inombek Abiante, identified several policy measures needed to address Nigeria’s housing deficit.
Abiante called for single-digit interest rates on mortgage loans, a review of housing prices, transparent and efficient land registration processes, effective development control and the introduction of a National Housing Identification Number.
What you should know
FMBN’s previous collections, lending activity and recapitalisation plans provide further context for the government’s proposed mortgage reforms.
Nairametrics previously reported that FMBN collected N152.4 billion in National Housing Fund (NHF) contributions in 2025, representing a 48% increase from N103 billion in 2024.
The bank also increased its housing loan approvals to N71.5 billion in 2024, up from N39.7 billion in 2023, as it sought to expand access to affordable homeownership.
In February 2026, FMBN said it was targeting N750 billion in recapitalisation to strengthen its capital base and improve its capacity to finance affordable housing. The bank’s managing director, Shehu Osidi, identified undercapitalisation as a major constraint on its ability to address Nigeria’s housing deficit.