It’s no longer news that Nigeria has a huge housing deficit estimated at 20 to 25 million units.
Besides, various factors not limited to high cost of land, high building materials’ cost, lack of access to good infrastructure, frequent building collapse incidents, lack of affordable mortgage, lack of virile mortgage sector, poor housing finance, high interest rates on loans from banks, bottleneck procedures associated with planning permit and issuance of Certificate of Occupancy, and poor housing policies have been adduced for huge accommodation’s shortage in the country.
Others are fluctuating foreign exchange, high unemployment rates, widespread poverty, security concerns, corruption and low purchasing power.
For the nation to bridge the huge gap of housing’s deficit, experts have estimated that it would need to build one million housing units per annum for the next 20 years.
Another set of experts estimated that Nigeria would need N21 trillion to solve its housing deficit.
Speaking to Nigerian Tribune on how to address the Nigeria’s housing deficit were the President, African Real Estate Society (AFRES), Mr Kunle Awolaja; Public Relations Officer, Lagos State chapter, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) Akingbade Adekola; Executive Secretary, Association of Housing Corporation of Nigeria, Toye Eniola; Principal Partner of Femi Oyedele & Co/ CEO of Fame Oyster & Co. Nigeria, Femi Oyedele; Founder, Cromwell PSI, Sola Enitan; and President , International Facility Management of Nigeria, (IFMA), Lekan Akinwunmi.
Proffering solutions on how bridge Nigeria’s 20 million housing deficit, Awolaja said that it would require a multi-faceted approach involving policy reforms, private sector involvement, and innovative housing solutions that are sustainable.
He listed some of the key solutions that might be applied to bridge the housing gap in the country.
The solutions, according to Awolaja, include government led initiatives; Public Private Partnerships; grant of subsidies, flexible mortgage terms; micro mortgages; use of local innovative building materials; alternative techniques sustainability; streamlining land acquisition and property registration; land reforms; digitising land records via Electronic – Geographical Information System (E-GIS); affordable lands; technological driven urban planning; transparent rent to own schemes; tax relief and incentives and reducing bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Others are affordable financing for developers; affordable rental housing; rent control policies; comprehensive housing policies; housing data and research; decentralising economic activities and creation of satellite cities.
Besides, he urged the Federal and State Governments to embark on more large-scale housing programmes and encourage the use of tested local materials.
“Intensive research should be carried out in schools and research institutes on more ways to improve the quality of our local building materials.
“A combination of affordable housing projects, mortgage financing, innovative building materials, and streamlined land policies can help close the housing gap. Long-term urban planning and infrastructure development will also be critical in sustaining housing delivery efforts across the country,” Awolaja said.
Another expert, Femi Oyedele, suggested the need for improving land titling to revive the dead capital in Nigeria.
He also canvassed for massive investment of government in local building materials’ manufacturing, adding that there should be distinction between economic and social housing.
“Since Nigeria is a signatory to Article 25 of 1948 which stated that housing is a right of everyone in Nigeria, and since this has been enshrined in our 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the governments at all levels must declare state of emergency on housing and provide “welfare housing” for workers, social housing for the poor people, home for the homeless for the unemployed who sleeps on streets and on canters in the markets and ensure everybody can sleep in a decent accommodation.
“This affordable housing can be possible with the use of local building materials like laterite bricks as walling materials and clay slates as roofing sheets,” Oyedele said, urging the governments on the need to engage professionals in the housing sector for sustainable housing development in Nigeria.
To address the housing deficit and improve the mortgage sub-sector, Akingbade Adekola Israel, a builder, urged the government and stakeholders to work together to develop a comprehensive housing policy; establish a robust regulatory framework; provide incentives for private sector investment; invest in infrastructure development, and improve access to housing finance.
Mr Sola Enitan, an estate surveyor and valuer, said that Nigeria would need a multi-faceted, collaborative approach, combining government policy reforms, private sector investment, and international assistance to overcome housing challenges.
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