To deepen mortgage financing in Nigeria, Brent Mortgage Bank Limited, has launched three new major mortgage products to bridge housing deficit in Nigeria.
Speaking at the unveiling of the product in Lagos, the Managing Director, Brent Mortgage Bank, Kola Abdul, said the products were designed and targeted at Nigerians locally and in diaspora, who are working hard and desired to own a comfortable but affordable house.
He said the products, which were code-named: BRENTO – Brent Rent to Own; BREHOP – Brent Retirement Home Plan; and BHODA – Brent Home Ownership Diaspora Account, were offered at a competitive interest rate.
According to him, the first two products focused on Nigerians locally while the last was designed for Nigerians abroad.
“Our findings reveal that dearth of market-focused mortgage product is partly responsible for the low contribution of mortgage financing to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product. We need products that are not stereotyped, but meet needs of a large spectrum of people and plug the gaps that exist in the nascent mortgage sector.
“These we have done painstakingly culminating in our developing two local products and one for Nigerians outside the shores of the country. And in view of the fact that we are aware that the propensity to save on the part of Nigerians has dropped and the propensity to consume is still very high.
“And in view of the value of our currency, we feel that our products will be more attractive and can easily be bought into by those in diaspora. That basically led us to the point where we feel we need to create products for those Nigerians who are abroad who are desirous of having a home in Nigeria,” Abdul said.
The Brent boss, who said home remittance was the second-biggest source of foreign exchange earnings for Nigeria, after petrodollar, acknowledged that more Nigerians were gradually embracing mortgaging even in the face of low per capita income, adding that housing deficit was reducing being addressed by the sector and appropriate authorities.
On remittances from abroad, the managing director disclosed that the institution had concluded arrangements with some marketing agents abroad who would assist in conducting due diligence on their prospect.
“Mortgages are new phenomenon in our society. In the last 20 years, the phenomenon of mortgage financing came in to being and people are gradually buying into it. But it is third in the hierarchy of need after food and clothing. When in a country where per capita income is low, you expect the third level to suffer more than the first level.
“The number of housing deficit is reducing with what the sector is doing and the Ministry charged with the responsibility of ensuring home ownership. Some of these properties were financed by us. I think it’s only Lagos HOMS that can beat us with about nine per cent. Many mortgage banks are talking about 15 per cent or thereabout.
In the last one year, what they would have bought with about $20,000, they can buy with less than $10,000 as we speak,” Abdul added.
