A former President of the Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (MBAN), Ebilate Mac-Yoroki, has proposed major capital market and land administration reforms to help Nigeria deliver 500,000 housing units annually.
Mac-Yoroki, who chairs CityCode Mortgage Bank Limited, said the country must mobilise long-term investments from pension funds, insurance companies and foreign investors to address its estimated 17 million housing deficit.
He argued that government budgetary allocations and conventional bank lending alone could not provide the financing required for large-scale housing delivery.
He presented the proposals in a position paper titled, “Scaling Nigeria Housing Supply to 500,000 Units Per Annum: A Market-Driven Policy Framework for Nigeria”.
The presentation took place at the MBAN Annual Conference and Gala Dinner in Abuja on Friday.
Mac-Yoroki identified inadequate long-term financing, fragmented land administration, poor market data and rising construction costs as major obstacles to housing development.
He noted that formal housing production had historically remained below 50,000 units annually.
According to him, the mismatch between short-term commercial bank deposits and mortgages lasting 15 to 25 years has restricted access to affordable homeownership.
“The core structural failure of housing finance in Nigeria is a duration mismatch,” he stated.
Proposes mortgage-backed securities, REITs
To address the financing gap, Mac-Yoroki recommended channelling institutional investments into housing through primary mortgage banks and the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC).
He proposed expanding Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS), covered bonds, residential Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and specialised housing debt funds.
Under the proposed model, mortgage lenders would pool existing loans and sell the resulting securities to institutional investors through platforms such as the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).
The arrangement, he explained, would free up funds for additional mortgage lending.
He also proposed forward-purchase REITs, allowing institutional investors to commit to acquiring housing units before construction begins.
According to him, such arrangements would give developers more predictable financing and reduce investment risks.
Mac-Yoroki further recommended blended financing instruments, including green bonds, social housing bonds and government-backed infrastructure bonds.
He said federal credit guarantees could help reduce borrowing costs, while targeted subsidies and shared-equity schemes could improve mortgage affordability for low- and middle-income Nigerians.
Proposes central housing depository to tackle land fraud
Another major proposal is the establishment of a Central Housing Depository (CHD), modelled on the digital clearing and settlement infrastructure used in the capital market.
Mac-Yoroki said the platform would integrate state land registries and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to create a unified database.
The system would help verify property ownership, mortgage registrations and existing claims against landed assets.
He argued that Nigeria’s fragmented, largely paper-based land administration system encourages ownership disputes, multiple-sale fraud and lengthy title verification processes.
According to him, these challenges discourage investment and limit the use of property as collateral for mortgage financing.
Mac-Yoroki estimated that more than 90 per cent of land in Nigeria remained unregistered.
He said the proposed depository could reduce title perfection from months to days, facilitate electronic property transfers and strengthen investor confidence.
He also suggested that eligible mortgage-backed instruments could serve as collateral in Central Bank liquidity operations, subject to regulatory approval.
Calls for national housing data system
Beyond land administration, Mac-Yoroki advocated a national housing information system to improve access to reliable industry data.
The proposed platform would capture mortgage originations, disbursements, loan performance and housing demand.
He recommended that MBAN serve as a central clearinghouse for housing finance information and maintain a real-time dashboard for policymakers, investors and developers.
He also proposed establishing an Inter-Agency Housing Data Directorate within the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The directorate would coordinate data collection and support evidence-based housing policies.
To expand mortgage access, he advocated automated credit assessment systems for informal-sector workers and Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) to standardise property assessments and accelerate loan approvals.
Identifies land, infrastructure and construction challenges
Mac-Yoroki identified land tenure complications, expensive building materials, inadequate infrastructure and cumbersome approval processes as additional barriers to housing delivery.
He called for harmonised Governor’s Consent procedures under the Land Use Act, digital land administration and single-window construction approval platforms.
He also advocated increased domestic production of cement, steel and alternative building materials to reduce construction costs.
According to him, roads, electricity, water and other supporting infrastructure account for between 20 and 30 per cent of housing development costs.
He urged greater use of public-private partnerships to finance essential infrastructure and support large-scale housing projects.
Unveils 36-month implementation roadmap
Mac-Yoroki outlined a three-year roadmap to implement the proposed housing finance and land administration reforms.
The first 12 months would focus on developing the regulatory framework for the Central Housing Depository.
He proposed collaboration among the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The second phase, covering months 12 to 24, would involve issuing residential mortgage-backed securities through NMRC-supported refinancing arrangements.
It would also include integrating state GIS databases into the proposed depository.
The final phase, spanning months 24 to 36, would introduce forward-purchase REIT investments to support large-scale housing construction.
The phase would also include the introduction of national automated property valuation systems.
Mac-Yoroki maintained that achieving the annual target of 500,000 housing units would require Nigeria to move beyond fragmented government housing programmes.
“Targeting 500,000 housing units per year requires moving beyond traditional budgetary allocations towards market-driven infrastructure,” he stated.
He stressed that deeper capital markets, transparent property records, reliable housing data and targeted affordability interventions would help attract the investments required to address the country’s housing shortage.
Mac-Yoroki, who has more than three decades of experience in capital markets, mortgage underwriting and housing policy, said Nigeria must treat housing as an integrated investment ecosystem rather than merely a construction or public expenditure challenge.
