The Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN) has called for a coordinated national mortgage system that expands access to housing finance beyond salaried workers to include traders, artisans, farmers, entrepreneurs, and other Nigerians with legitimate but irregular incomes.
HDAN, in a statement from its Research and Economic Development Unit, said the country’s mortgage system must evolve to recognise different income patterns and provide viable pathways to homeownership for Nigerians outside the formal salary structure.
The organisation said Nigeria already had several institutions and interventions capable of supporting a stronger mortgage market, but stressed that they needed to be better coordinated around long-term funding, risk-sharing, affordable housing supply and financial inclusion.
“Traders, artisans, farmers and entrepreneurs may not earn a fixed salary, but that does not automatically mean they lack the capacity to repay a mortgage,” HDAN said.
It proposed the establishment of a National Mortgage Guarantee and Inclusion Framework bringing together the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), Mortgage Refinance and Equity Investment Fund (MREIF), Family Homes Funds Limited (FHFL), commercial banks, primary mortgage banks and other stakeholders.
According to HDAN, the proposed framework would enable the institutions to play complementary roles rather than operate largely through separate interventions.
“FMBN brings affordable mortgage infrastructure. NMRC brings refinancing and standardisation. MREIF brings long-term investment capital.
“FHFL brings affordable housing delivery experience. Banks bring capital, customers, technology and distribution. Nigeria needs a framework capable of bringing these strengths together,” it stated.
HDAN also proposed a mortgage guarantee mechanism through which government-backed institutions would share an agreed portion of the risks associated with qualifying mortgages.
It said such an arrangement could encourage banks and mortgage institutions to commit more private capital to housing finance, particularly for borrowers who could demonstrate repayment capacity but might not satisfy conventional mortgage requirements.
“Government cannot provide all the money required to finance homeownership for millions of Nigerians. Government intervention should be used strategically to reduce risk and attract substantially greater private-sector capital into housing finance,” the organisation said.
It, however, cautioned that mortgage guarantees should not result in reckless lending, stressing the need for clear eligibility criteria, proper underwriting standards, transparent risk-sharing arrangements, monitoring and consumer protection.
HDAN said the size of Nigeria’s informal economy made mortgage inclusion critical, arguing that the absence of a monthly salary should not be treated as automatic evidence that a prospective borrower was unable to repay.
It called for alternative mortgage underwriting systems that could assess verified bank transactions, rent-payment history, cooperative contributions, business turnover, digital transactions, tax records and other credible evidence of sustainable income.
“A trader may not receive a salary every month but may have operated a profitable business for 15 years. An artisan may not have an employment letter but may have consistent bank transactions.
“A farmer may earn seasonally, while an entrepreneur may receive irregular payments. The fundamental question should be whether that person can demonstrate sustainable income and the capacity to repay a properly structured mortgage,” it said.
The organisation stressed that mortgage inclusion should not involve lowering lending standards, but developing more effective ways of identifying creditworthy Nigerians outside the traditional salary system.
HDAN also warned that expanding mortgage access alone would not solve Nigeria’s housing affordability crisis if the supply of homes remained beyond the reach of most households.
It called for mortgage reforms to be accompanied by measures to reduce land costs, improve infrastructure, ease development approvals, address construction finance and building-material costs, and simplify property documentation.
“There is little benefit in giving a household access to mortgage finance if the cheapest suitable house available is still beyond what that household can afford. Mortgage reform and affordable housing supply must move together,” it stated.
The organisation further advocated greater mobilisation of long-term capital through mortgage refinancing, capital-market instruments, development-finance institutions and appropriately regulated institutional investment.
