FG moves to bridge state-level housing delivery gaps

The federal government has launched a nationwide campaign aimed at bridging the housing delivery gaps in states.

Ahmed Dangiwa, minister of housing and urban development, unveiled the state-by-state homeownership and housing development campaign on Tuesday at the Africa International Housing Show (AIHS) in Abuja.

Dangiwa said the initiative is part of a broader strategy to make affordable housing a reality for millions of Nigerians.

The minister said the campaign will provide states with the technical capacity, financing models, and policy tools needed to implement housing reforms in alignment with national programmes.

“As part of this initiative, we aim to embed housing reform champions as special advisers to state governors, convene state housing roundtables to review existing housing development plans and provide technical advisory, develop actionable roadmaps, and offer hands-on support to structure viable projects and unlock financing,” the minister said.

“The campaign will also ensure alignment with federal programmes, thereby enabling states to access funding and technical support from institutions such as the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), Family Homes Funds, the Mass Rent-to-Own and Equity Investment Facility (MREIF), Shelter Afrique Development Bank, and others.”

The minister said the “biggest gaps in housing delivery” are at the subnational level, where many state governments lack technical capacity, planning systems, and financial tools to act.

Dangiwa noted that while President Bola Tinubu’s administration is focused on addressing Nigeria’s structural and macroeconomic issues, such as stabilising the naira, boosting purchasing power, and reducing inflation, tangible progress in housing delivery must also happen at the state level, where the needs are most pressing.

“I must say that this conviction is at the heart of the renewed hope housing programme. The programme reflects a clear strategy for reimagining housing delivery across three tiers. First is renewed hope cities, which are large-scale urban developments with integrated infrastructure for construction in Nigerian cities — Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Maiduguri, Kaduna and Nasarawa,” the minister said.

“Second are the renewed hope estates, which are medium-density residential clusters located in each of the 30 states. The third component is the renewed hope social housing estates, which aim to provide deeply affordable homes for low-income Nigerians, supported by targeted government subsidies to ensure affordability, to be situated in each of the LGAs.”

Dangiwa said to deepen the mortgage market and increase homeownership, the government has also set up the MOFI real estate investment fund (MREIF).

He said the fund draws from public and private capital to provide longer-term mortgage loans at twelve per cent interest per annum to Nigerians.

The minister said the government has introduced two “groundbreaking interventions” at the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) for Nigerians unable to purchase a home.

Dangiwa said the interventions — rent-to-own scheme and rental assistance product — allow eligible Nigerians to move into homes while paying monthly toward ownership, and to pay their annual rent in advance, with flexible monthly repayment terms, respectively.

“These are practical tools to ease housing pressure, particularly for urban workers and young families. Our commitment also extends to the national urban renewal and slum upgrade programme, which prioritises infrastructure improvement, housing rehabilitation, and service delivery in underserved communities.”

Dangiwa added that the efforts align with the UN-Habitat Global Action Plan for slum transformation and the Addis Declaration adopted at the 2024 Africa Urban Forum.