Mr Olakunle Oluomo, Speaker, Ogun House of Assembly, says the bill to establish Ogun Mortgages and Foreclosure Authority will reduce fraud in mortgage business.
Oluomo said this during a stakeholders’ forum on the bill held at the assembly’s complex in Abeokuta, if it becomes law, will reduce fraud and ensure sanity in mortgage business in the state.
The speaker explained that the law would also help in making funds available for the expanding mortgage industry in the state.
He added that the law would ensure that the legal requirements by financial institutions to make funds available for the mortgage industry were put in place.
“This will encourage the various financial institutions to bring down the interest rate on mortgage loans because more of them will be allowed to participate in the business,” he said.
In his submission, Mr Wale Osinsanya, the Managing Director, Gateway Mortgage Bank, said that the bill was coming at the right time that the housing industry was faced with challenges in Nigeria.
Osinsanya explained that the contribution of the housing industry to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was low, adding that the challenge of the industry had been the law governing the business.
”The environment for housing business must be conducive and Ogun State with this bill has taken the right steps.
“With this bill, we will be dealing with the issue of transfer of title that could take years within 30 days.
” We will also be dealing with the issue of cost and investors in the business will not run away,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Saliu Sobanke, the state chairman, Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyor and Valuers, commended the initiator of the bill, saying it was important for the development of the state.
Sobanke, who explained that the bill remained a basic commodity that was needed by all stakeholders, expressed optimism that it would ensure that a greater number of people have access to housing when passed into law.
Source:NAN
