Historical Background

The Federal Housing Authority was established vide a legal instrument known as decree No. 40 of 1973 revised as CAP 136 Laws of the Federation 1990 and now CAP F14 Laws of the Federation 2004.

The Authority exists as a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal.

Functions of the Authority

• The preparation and submission from time to time, to the Government of proposals for National Housing Programmes;
• The making of recommendations to the Government on such aspects of urban and regional planning, transportation, communication, electric power, sewage and water supply development as may be relevant to the successful execution of housing programmes approved by the Government;
• The execution of such housing programmes as may be approved by the Government.

Powers of the Authority

Subject to this Act, the Authority shall have power to do anything which in its opinion is calculated to facilitate the carrying out its functions including (without prejudice) to the generality of the following:-

• Sue and be sued in its corporate name;
• Acquire, hold and manage movable and immovable property;
• Acquire, construct and maintain houses, schools, communal and commercial buildings and other structures;
• Enter into contracts for the construction, maintenance, management or repairs of any property;
• Purchase or otherwise acquire any assets, business or other property where in the opinion of the Authority, such purchase or acquisition is necessary for the proper discharge of its functions under this Act.
• Sell, let, lease or otherwise dispose of any property vested in the Authority;
• Borrow money for the operations of the Authority. but where the amount of any particular loan is not less than Two Hundred Million Naira (N200,000,000) that amount may only be borrowed with the prior approval of the President;
• Undertake or sponsor the undertaking or such research as may be necessary for the performance of its functions;
• Train managerial, technical and other staff for the purpose of running the Authority’s operation.

Apart from the Act outlining the Authority’s powers, rights and obligations, the enabling law also specified the procedure of constituting the Board of Directors to run its affairs and discharge its function effectively.

The National Housing policy 2012 further expanded the role of the Authority to include:

• Develop and manage real estate on commercial basis in all states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Tertiary (FCT).
• Provide sites and services for all income groups with special emphasis on the No-income and low-income groups. The funds for providing for these two groups shall be provided by the Federal Government and other sources;
• Provide No-income and Low-income, cooperative, and rural housing in all states of the Federation and the Capital Territory from funds provided by Government and other sources;
• Execute such housing programmes in the public interest as may be approved by the Federal Government, and mobilize off-shore funding for housing development..

EFFECT OF GOVERNMENT POLICES ON FHA

The constant changes of Government Policies over the years swept through the nation’s landscape and altered the vision of Government in some core areas of governance. This has necessitated government’s gradual withdrawal from the management of the economy and reversed the trend to a private sector driven economy.

In order to reposition the Authority (FHA) for a sustainable growth within the building industry, the role of the Authority (FHA) was defined under the 1991 National Housing Policy and subsequently redefined under the 2006 and 2012 National Housing policies as herein before mentioned in our introduction.

PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the redefined roles and in order to identify and specify the business strategies to achieve its mission and appreciate incentives from prudence and accountability, the Federal Government through the former Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization (TCPC) now Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), partially commercialized the Authority in 1992 and entered into a performance Agreement with the Authority (FHA).

The aim of the performance Agreement was to reduce the magnitude and scope of Financial Support of the Federal Government and allow the Authority (FHA) to meet changing business requirements. The Agreement further approved a reformed package commercializing the activities of the Authority with a view to repositioning it to do the following:

• Strategic planning emanating from guidelines by the National Planning Commission and the supervising Ministry or such other relevant agencies of the Federal Government;
• Measuring performance of Management against agreed targets;
• Recommend the appointment, discipline and removal of the Chief Executive and the Executive Directors to Mr. President via the supervising ministry;
• Approval of financial and banking policies including borrowing within the capacity of the balance sheet of the Authority;
• Appraisal of Budget both Recurrent and Capital and Annual Account;
• Acquisition and disposal of fixed assets as recommended by the Management of the Authority;
• Determination of Rents, Rates and Charges for goods or services produced or rendered by the Authority subject to consultation with the supervising ministry;
• Award contracts within certain financial limits. Appointment, promotion and discipline of staff at all levels and determination of conditions of services for staff.