From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Amid the frequent incidents of building collapse, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, has revealed that over 3.6 million, representing over 75 per cent of Nigeria’s 22 million housing units are substandard.
Dangiwa shared this information during an oversight visit from the House Committee on Housing and Habitat to the ministry.
The minister highlighted the acute housing shortage in Nigeria, noting that substandard housing fails to meet essential conditions of security, comfort, and sanitation. He emphasized the need for a comprehensive approach to address the housing crisis, which includes constructing new homes and upgrading existing slums to acceptable standards.
Dangiwa said, “To address the housing challenge in Nigeria, we must involve a combination of building new houses and upgrading slums to ensure that these houses meet the necessary standards. The housing sector in Nigeria faces issues of low purchasing power among households, high construction costs, and inadequate housing supply to keep up with population growth. According to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey, 75 percent of the 22 million housing units in Nigeria are substandard.”
Additionally, the minister pointed out that 85 percent of Nigerians, or 43 million households, have an annual purchasing power of less than N1.1 million. This makes affordability and social housing critical components of resolving the housing crisis.
“Our focus is on providing affordable and social housing. Poor access to land for development and the high cost of construction due to inflation are major factors. Ninety-seven percent of land in Nigeria is unregistered, meaning over $3 billion in debt capital remains untapped. Unregistered land hinders people from using it to secure credit. Even with access to mortgages, affordability remains an issue due to the low capitalization of primary mortgage institutions,” Dangiwa explained.
In response, Abdulmuminu Jibril, the chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Habitat, expressed the House’s commitment to supporting the ministry with a N500 billion presidential waiver to help address the housing deficit.
“We will support the ministry to secure a presidential waiver. Without it, they will not be able to meet the housing needs,” Jibril stated.
The committee also directed the minister to monitor and coordinate various housing programs to regulate and improve them, particularly in preventing building collapses.