A mortgage lender firm, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank Plc, has canvassed collaborative efforts among stakeholders to eliminate identified obstacles to the growth of the nation’s real estate sector. The firm made the call when the Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Adekunle Adewole, met with the leadership of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), on Thursday, to discuss areas of mutual collaboration between the two leading mortgage institutions.
FMBN was represented by its Executive Director, Mr. Melville Ebo, and Group Head, Loans and Mortgages, Dr. Mohammed Jibo Ibrahim, at the meeting held at the bank’s headquarters, in Abuja. According to Adewole, two major issues were identified as constituting major obstacles to making affordable housing available to Nigerians which include: the absence of a central title depositary and bottlenecks in title perfection. “LivingTrust Mortgage Bank, therefore, suggested ways through which FMBN could collaborate with state governments to fast track title perfection, in order to facilitate ease of on-lending through Primary Mortgage Institutions, PMIs. “This would serve as a major boost to current efforts geared towards making affordable housing available to Nigerians in line with the government’s agenda to bridge the housing gap,” he stressed.
Adewole described the discussion with the FMBN’s team as fruitful, while reiterating his bank’s commitment to championing the development of the mortgage sector.
Ebo commended the Living Trust Mortgage Bank team for the visit and promised to take the conversation further at their next board meeting, and in the ongoing engagement with the Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria. Vanguard