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
F.A.Q
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.
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).
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.
The World Bank approved a concessional US$300 Million 40-year interest free International Development Association (IDA) loan to facilitate the execution of the Housing Finance Programme. US$250 Million of the IDA loan was disbursed in instalments to NMRC as Tier 2 Capital based on key performance indicators — it will be retained on NMRC’s balance sheet to provide credit support for NMRC’s bond issuances.
