Housing deficit: Ministry to get data from NPC

From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja

Following a presidential  directive for all Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to collaborate to deliver on the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development,  Alhaji Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, yesterday ordered all the agencies under his ministry to collaborate with the National Population Commission (NPC) to determine the nation’s actual housing deficit.

Speaking during a multi-agency meeting in Abuja, Wednesday, Dangiwa noted that the meeting became necessary as part of efforts to ensure that all federal agencies within the housing ecosystem work in synergy to achieve the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for Housing and Urban Development.

The Minister urged them to be creative and ensure that their initiatives match the size of the housing challenge that the country faces, adding that the agencies were strategically established to cater to all segments of the housing market, such as the social housing segment serviced by the Family Homes Fund Limited (FHFL); the affordable housing segment where the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) operates, and the mid to high-end segment of the market which is catered by the FHA.

“The Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), on the other hand, has a significant role to play in developing the housing market and building a robust housing finance market through its mortgage refinancing operations that are designed to boost liquidity in the housing market. So, clearly, our problem is not the lack of institutions. We have them. But as we speak, we must all be humbled by how little we have collectively and individually done to address the housing problems of our country. If we consider the state of the housing market, the systemic challenges we still confront, the estimated size of the housing deficit, the prevalence of slum dwellings, the cost of land acquisition, interest on mortgage loans, among several other challenges, and how little progress we have made to tackling them, we can all agree that we have fallen short of expectations,” he noted.

Dangiwa reiterated the ambitious plans for housing as captured in the Renewed Hope Agenda and called for increased urgency in the delivery of housing tangibles in a bid to change the embarrassing narrative.

“Our population is rapidly increasing, and the demand is rising. We must, therefore, resolve to act in a way that shows the urgency of the moment and the size of the problem we seek to solve.

That is what Mr. President requires of us, and that is what we must do going forward”the minister said.

He acknowledged the enormous systemic and macro-environment related challenges confronting the sector, including the Land Use Act, Establishment Acts of the FHA and the FMBN, the obsolete provisions of the NHF Act, the rising inflation rate, lack of government capital interventions, and other gaps in the value chain.

“Despite these challenges, I believe that there still exist areas that we can leverage despite these challenges to make a greater impact. During my time at the FMBN, we made historic progress despite these challenges. That is what we should aim to do”, he added.

He further highlighted the Action Plan of the ministry, which includes strengthening the institutional capacity of federal housing agencies, increasing the supply of decent and affordable housing stock, establishment of a National Social Housing Fund (NSHF), implementation of Land Reforms to ease land administration and access for private sector players, setting up building materials manufacturing hubs across the six geopolitical zones, development of new cities that are integrated, inclusive, and demand-driven, as well as implementing Urban Renewal and Slum-Upgrading Programmes.

The minister explained that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a game-changer who is willing to tackle Nigeria’s problems head-on. He called for the total commitment of the agencies to collaborate and participate with other housing stakeholders to see to the delivery of the Renewed Hope Agenda for Housing.

The meeting was attended by the leadership of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), Family Homes Fund Limited (FHFL), and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), and led by their Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers.