Housing finance inaccessibility: evidence from the Nigerian Pensioners

Abstract

Purpose – The Nigerian Government’s initiatives to provide housing loans to low-income pensioners (LIPs) have been futile. This paper aims to examine the root cause of housing loan inaccessibility for the Nigerian LIPs and proffer some possible policy options. This is because inaccessibility to housing finance is one of the impediments facing the LIPs homeownership. Design/methodology/approach – The phenomenology type of qualitative research was employed to collate data. The study supports MAXQDA 2020 with thematic analysis to analyse the data and achieve saturation with 30 knowledgeable participants. Findings – Findings show that housing loan rejection is extremely high among LIPs. Some of the impediments facing the LIPs in accessing housing loans include delayed gratuity, insufficient income for housing loan repayments, failed mortgage finance, incapacitated National Housing Fund (NHF), a corrupt system and lack of collateral. Research limitations/implications – The paper is limited to the housing loan inaccessibility for the Nigerian LIPs and data collected via semi-structured face-to-face interviews in Lagos, Nigeria. Other developing cities may adopt the suggestions that will emerge from this paper with similar housing loan inaccessibility issues. Practical implications – This study would stir policymakers and mortgage institutions to consider the suggestions from this paper. Examples are the review of the Pension Reform Act 2014 to allow for 50% part withdrawal from the Retirement Savings Account, 10% upward review contribution to NHF and create special Federal Integrated Staff Housing Programme (FISH-P) for LIPs. These form part of the practical implications and will be helpful to policymakers. Originality/value – Research regarding LIPs’ housing loan accessibility is limited, making this paper one of the pioneering attempts to investigate the root cause of housing loan inaccessibility for the Nigerian LIPs, and proffers some possible policy options.