From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Minister of Housing and Urban Development Architect Ahmed Musa Dangiwa has said that over 75 per cent, or 3.6 million, of the 22 million housing units in Nigeria are substandard.
Dangiwa, who disclosed this when the House Committee on Housing and Habitat paid an oversight visit to the ministry, explained that the nation is experiencing an acute housing supply shortage and that substandard housing does not meet the conditions of security, comfort, and sanitation.
“So, in addressing the housing challenge in Nigeria, we must involve a combination of not only building new houses but also engaging in slum upgrades in order to ensure that these houses are upgraded to standard. Housing in Nigeria faces problems of low purchasing power for households to own houses due to the fact that we have low income and high costs of building materials.
“We need to acknowledge that the state of housing in Nigeria presents broad challenges. First of all, there is inadequate housing supply to meet the population growth, and the substandard housing does not meet the conditions of security, comfort, or sanitation for Nigerians to meet the standards set by the United Nations (UN). According to the recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) housing industry survey, 75 per cent, which is 3.6 million of the 22 million housing units in Nigeria, are substandard,” he said.
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The minister also told the House Committee in Abuja that 85 per cent of Nigerians, representing 43 million households, have less than N1.1 million in purchasing power per annum. Therefore, he stated that affordability and social housing are critical to resolving the housing challenge.
“That’s why our focus is on providing affordable housing on one side and providing social housing on the other.
“Poor access to land for housing development is a significant factor because land use has been absolute. You have to see how we look at it. Additionally, 97 per cent of the land is unregistered, which means that over $3 billion in debt capital is tied up.
“Because 97 per cent of land is unregistered, people cannot use the land to acquire credit. High construction costs, as I mentioned, are due to high inflation. Even if they access mortgages, we find that affordability is a factor.
“Even the primary mortgage institutions that create the mortgages lack capacity because of the low capitalisation of these institutions. When we were appointed as ministers one year ago, the president gave us priorities in which housing is included. Housing falls under two priorities, projected priorities,” he noted.
In his remarks, the chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Habitat, Abdulmuminu Jibril, said that the House would support the ministry with a N500 billion presidential waiver to enable the ministry to meet the housing deficit need.
“We will have to support the ministry in obtaining a presidential waiver. Otherwise, they will not be able to deliver.”
Regarding building collapse, the committee directed the minister to monitor and co-ordinate the various housing programmes with a view to regulating and co-ordinating them.
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