NMRC, Ogun State sign pact to expand home ownership

The Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) has signed what it calls a ‘landmark’ partnership agreement with the Ogun State Property Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Imperial Homes, TrustBond and Homebase mortgage banks in continuation of its mandate to stimulate housing development in the country.
The partnership effected at the recent 11th Abuja Housing recently in Abuja is an NMRC-led business driven market development initiative designed to boost the capacity of OPIC, a leading property development investment company in Ogun state, to build more affordable houses.

It aims to provide liquidity and empower the three partner mortgage banks to give more long-term mortgage loans to potential house owners in the Ogun and Lagos environs.

NMRC is a private sector driven company with the public purpose of developing the primary and secondary mortgage markets by raising long-term funds from the capital market and thereby providing access to affordable housing finance in Nigeria.

It has refinanced up to N8.5bn worth of housing mortgages since the N8bn bond issuance debut in 2015.

But the company hopes to relaunch into the capital market with a second tranche bond of N20bn to raise additional funds for housing refinancing by the third quarter of 2017.

Authorities at the Company say the new partnership with Ogun state is to ensure that a ready and effective demand for properties that are developed by OPIC exists so the funds invested can be quickly recovered and ploughed back into the construction of more houses.

Specifically, under the terms of the agreement, the participating mortgage banks are to provide mortgage loans to applicants who meet NMRC’s strict underwriting standards for the purchase of the houses built by OPIC.

But as an expression of their commitment to the success of the scheme, the consortium of banks have already committed N1.5billion each, totaling N4.5billion in all to the project, BusinessDay has been told.

Speaking at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Charles Inyangete NMRC Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, said he was delighted at the consolidation of the partnership because of the positive impact it will have on housing development in the area.

He added that the “partnership with OPIC in collaboration with Imperial Homes, TrustBond and Homebase mortgage banks marks an important milestone in NMRC’s effort to develop the mortgage market. It is our belief that the business financing model that we have developed will significantly strengthen OPIC’s positioning as a potent catalyst for housing development in Ogun state.”

The strategic role of NMRC in the partnership is to refinance the mortgage loans given by the banks to potential home owners. NMRC would do this by buying the stock of mortgages provided by the banks using its long term debt instruments sourced from the capital market.

The objective is to ensure that the mortgage banks retain sufficient liquidity to provide more mortgages to more people for the purchase of OPIC properties and in the process help to gradually expand the circle of home ownership in the Ogun and Lagos environs.

Babajide Odusolu Managing Director, OPIC, commented that the partnership holds great promise for the achievement of the corporation’s plans to achieve the target of being the dominant provider of quality and affordable housing in Ogun state.

“This partnership gives a big boost to the plans of OPIC to build and offer quality houses under a mortgage system that is affordable and convenient for aspiring home owners to take. We commend NMRC for facilitating the consolidation of this partnership and the Imperial Homes, TrustBond and Homebase mortgage banks for their willingness to be our partners on this project”.

 

Onyinye Nwachukwu, Abuja