Standardization
Standardizing The Mortgage Market
Promoting the adoption of global operational standards by key players in the Nigerian housing and mortgage sector is a key pillar of NMRC’s operations.
A notable milestone in is the development and institutioning of the Uniform Underwriting Standards (UUS). NMRC worked with key industry stakeholders like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Mortgage Bankers Association of Nigeria (MBAN), the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) to develop and streamline mortgage underwriting standards to widen the net of potential borrowers and enhance financial inclusion.
The standards, which are now used by all NMRC member mortgage lending institutions for processing mortgage applications promote uniformity, efficiency and mitigate mortgage financing risks.
The industry-wide use of the mortgage underwriting standards has led to:
- a significant increase in the turnaround time for processing mortgage loans
- zero default rate on mortgage portfolios of NMRC member banks
- increased collaboration by housing value chain players.
Currently operational are Uniform Underwriting Standards (UUS) for the following sectors of the economy:
- The Formal Sector
- The Informal Sector
- Non-interest Banking
- Diaspora Nigerians
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is NMRC?
The Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company(“NMRC”) is a Public Private Partnership arrangement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and private sector. It is a component of the Nigeria Housing Finance Programme initiated by the Federal Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (“CBN”), Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing & Urban Development (“FMLHUD”) and the World Bank/IFC.
NMRC is a vehicle set up to bridge the funding cost of residential mortgages and promote the availability and affordability of good housing to working Nigerians by providing mortgage lending banks with increased access to liquidity and longer terms funds in the mortgage market.
What is the Nigeria Housing Finance Programme?
The Nigeria Housing Programme seeks to address the key barrier to developing accessible and affordable housing in Nigeria. It is designed to be implemented with parallel funded projects in land registration and construction sectors by the DFID and GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH).
The Programme has three components and will be most effective if a coordinated approach to all parts of the value chain is implemented. The main areas are a) land and legal framework, b) access to affordable housing finance, and c) housing development and construction.
NMRC is established with the primary aim of resolving access to affordable housing finance, and to act as a focal point for creating an enabling environment for housing finance by playing a strong developmental role in supporting the improvement of land and legal framework and housing development and construction.
NMRC is a vehicle set up to bridge the funding cost of residential mortgages and promote the availability and affordability of good housing to working Nigerians by providing mortgage lending banks with increased access to liquidity and longer terms funds in the mortgage market.
What is the difference between NMRC and Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN)
NMRC and FMBN are working on different aspects of providing affordable housing for Nigerians. Primarily, FMBN is a public sector institution focused on the role of providing mass housing and mobilisation of housing funds for the neediest in society. Loans are directly accessed by Nigerian citizens through the National Housing Fund in accordance with the provisions of the NHF Act. The NHF fund is also to service the non-salaried informal populace.
While NMRC as a secondary mortgage refinancing institution will inject liquidity from the capital market to support mortgage loans accessed through respective financial institutions. These institutions include mortgage and commercial banks. NMRC does not provide mortgage loans directly to individuals
How does NMRC function
NMRC sits as a financial intermediary between the Nigerian capital market and financial institutions that provide mortgage loans to average working Nigerian citizens.
NMRC accesses the capital market by issuing long-term bonds, and on-lend the proceeds of the bonds issued to these mortgage lending institutions by providing loan facilities secured by the mortgage pool created according to an agreed underwriting standard.
What is the role of NMRC in housing development?
NMRC provides mortgage-lending institutions with access to long-term finance at an affordable interest rate, thereby enabling mortgages to be issued by these institutions to Nigerians, at longer tenors and affordable rates. The provision of mortgage loans at longer tenors will provide the average working Nigerian citizens an opportunity to buy a home and conveniently pay for it.
In simple words, NMRC is government inspired but a private sector led effort to provide affordable housing for Nigerians through loans accessed from mortgage and commercial banks. NMRC will contribute to a better alignment of the Housing Finance Programme.
Why is NMRC so important to housing development in Nigeria?
A core strategic objective for the Nigerian government is to achieve broad based and inclusive growth by unlocking markets that have the potential to generate jobs.
The increasing gap in residential homes in Nigeria is now estimated by experts to be in a deficit of about 22million housing units. This presents a huge opportunity for private investment and job creation. It is estimated — following labor impact assessments in countries such as Columbia, Malaysia and South Africa — that at least 5.62 direct jobs can be generated with every new home and 2.48 indirect jobs associated in housing related expenditure
NMRC is a vehicle set up to bridge the funding cost of residential mortgages and promote the availability and affordability of good housing to working Nigerians by providing mortgage lending banks with increased access to liquidity and longer terms funds in the mortgage market.
Does NMRC deal with individual borrowers
No. NMRC is a wholesale financial institution which refinances portfolios of mortgage & commercial banks rather than originating individual mortgages and will cater for financial institutions rather than individual borrowers.
Who are NMRC target beneficiaries
This initiative is for the benefit of all Nigerians in the long term. Beginning from the first phase of operations, average Nigerians with sustainable and verifiable level of income can access mortgage loans easier and faster from participating mortgage lenders. These institutions are being better equipped to provide long term loans with refinancing from NMRC. This also enables developers to build homes faster and allow these homes to be purchased at an affordable cost, and hence save more household disposable income for other investments.