On 12th day of August, 2018, The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) Board approved the implementation of the ‘Rent-To-Own’ pilot housing scheme to begin with 3000 houses nationwide. This was in response to the increased need for home ownership for Nigerian workers, The Federal Mortgage Bank Nigeria (FMBN) adopted the rent-to-own scheme, an innovative affordable housing product, which provides an easy and convenient payment plan towards home ownership for Nigerian workers in Nigeria.

To further increase affordability, the properties will also attract a single digit interest rate of 9 per cent on the price of the property on an annuity basis. The product will cover properties with the maximum value of N15 million.

The rent-to-own housing product  mainly targets Nigerian workers who are contributors to the National Housing Fund (NHF) and will be implemented in phases. Currently,  3,000 houses are planned for the pilot phase.

The Managing Director of FMBN, Ahmed Dangiwa stated that “The rent-to-own housing product is designed to make sure that any worker who collects a salary should be able to live in his own home and pay conveniently over periods as long as 30-years! This is a massive relief especially given how little workers earn. I am delighted that we have successfully added this product to the many other initiatives that we have made possible to make home ownership a lot easier for Nigerian workers,”.

In commending the commitment of His Excellency, President Mohammadu Buhari and the Honourable Minister for Power Raji Fashola SAN, he stated that the implementation of the scheme will totally eliminate the burden of equity contributions by workers for housing loans, complement the existing products of the bank by widening the home ownership bracket, increase housing stock, and help the bank to utilize abandoned estates that are to be transferred to the scheme.