Abuja — Federal Mortgage Bank is set to disburse N40 billion to property developers as part of efforts to meet the nation's housing need.

Minister of State for Environment, Housing and Urban Development, Mr Chuka Odom, disclosed this at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja.

Odom said the release, which would be the second tranche of efforts to encourage investment in the housing sector, was aimed at empowering Primary Mortgage Institutions to grant loans to investors in the sector.

"This way, more than 70 million people will be able to access fund to develop their own houses," he said, adding that the release was aimed at forcing down mortgage loan interest rate to as low as three per cent.

"If we bring mortgage loan interest to three per cent, more than 30 million Nigerians will be able to afford loans to build their own houses with a repayment period of 15 to 20 years," he said.

He said the National Housing Fund, which presently had more than N30 billion in its purse, was not enough to fund the nation's housing needs.

"We need about N70 to N80 billion to provide a robust funding capital that will galvanise the quest for affordable houses for Nigerians," he said.

"We are of the view that if housing loans are affordable and interest rate comes within single digit, it will be easy to approach banks to access loans to build houses," the minister said.