ABSTRACT
One of the major problems concerning home ownership is the problem of finance. Only a few people in a society can afford to finance their own homes alone, without recourse to financial institutions. In the past people saved a part of their income over a long period to build a house of their own. Today it is difficult to save enough to build a house because of the inflationary costs of building materials, which in Nigeria are in the three digit inflationary zone. Nearly every state in Nigeria has a housing corporation or a housing development authority and every housing corporation has a savings and loan department. The savings and loan department of each housing development authority or corporation constitutes the first line of housing finance. Commercial banks constitute also an important source of finance for home ownership. The Central Bank’s credit guideline makes it mandatory for commercial banks to provide a certain percentage of their credit for estate developments.
