221,595 Register For National Housing Fund
A total of 221,595 individuals and organisations registered for National Housing Fund in 2019, the National Bureau of Statistics has said.
Figures from the NBS on Tuesday showed that the number included 220,935 individuals and 660 organisations.
The NHF scheme was established for Nigerians in all sectors of the economy, particularly those within the low and medium income levels who cannot afford commercial housing loans.
This included civil servants, traders, artisans and commercial drivers among others.
Any intending beneficiary must be a registered contributor and be up to date with their contributions.
A contributor interested in obtaining NHF loan could apply through a registered and duly accredited mortgage loan originator such as the primary Mortgage Banks, that would package and forward the application to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, had earlier disclosed that the Federal Government planned to construct 300,000 homes in the country in 12 months.
In the statement, Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, stated that on the Federal Government’s plan to tackle unemployment, one of the proposals by the Economic Sustainability Committee was to build 300,000 homes across the country within 12 months.
He said it would provide more jobs for Nigerians.
Osinbajo added that small and medium scale local businesses and young professionals within the construction industry would benefit from the policy.
He said, “This is also an opportunity for us to develop the local industry, especially the construction industry.
“That is exactly the plan in developing the housing programme, because we thought it would generate the jobs that are required now, aside from the fact that we have a housing deficit.”
Also, the NBS disclosed that banks gave out N77.61bn mortgage loans in three years
The NBS stated in its selected banking sector report for the second quarter that N19.83bn, N32.09bn and N26.68bn were given out in 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.
According to the NBS, non-performing loans in the banking sector amounted to N1.05tn as of December 2019.
The bureau also gave the gross loans of the banking sector as N17.56tn in the review period.
