Follow Us on Google
Fred Itua, Abuja
Stakeholders in the housing sector, has called on the Federal Government to target the provision of at least 700,000 housing units per annum in order to address the over 20 million deficit in the sector.
They said currently, only about 100,000 housing units are constructed annually, which they said can’t meet the growing demands in the 36 States of the Federation and the Abuja.
Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN), in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday and signed by its President, Mr. Festus Adebayo, said for a start, the Federal Government should increase the number of units to 300,000.
He said: “While it will take at least 700,000 housing units annually to significantly address the current housing deficit of at least 20 million, the Federal Government must be committed to whatever number of houses it wants to deliver.
“Current delivery rates are about or less than 100,000 housing units, hence, if it must increase that and deliver the projected 300,000, then our recommendations must be adhered to religiously.
“According to the Federal Government, Nigeria’s projection of 300,000 housing units per annum will remain a wishful thinking unless it resolves some existential problems at the core of the sector.”
The statement stated that Nigeria has to speed up current interventions and must also introduce more if the housing deficit must be reduced drastically.
Due to many years of policy summersault, we believe that it is very expedient to act fast and with palpable determination.
“First is that they must get the private sector to be involved in decisions for which their resources of time, finance and good will be expended.
“There must be due consultation and every party must be clear about what their unique responsibilities are. They must also work on removing the bottlenecks in the transaction dynamics by getting the land administrators (36 States and FCT), to ensure Ease of Approvals, Title Registrations etc. Especially the adoption and domestication of the Model Mortgage and Foreclosure Law in their Sates and FCT.
“There should be a recapitalisation of FMBN to enable mortgages to be created, and in so doing refinance Family Homes Funds and other Developers including Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMW&H) whose funds are massively tied up in Estates across the Country.”
HDAN noted that the Government should restructure the National Housing delivery architecture by ensuring that roles and responsibilities are assigned, and adhered to by stakeholders.
“The roles of State Government through its Housing Corporations can not be neglected. The Government should forestall Federal Ministry of Works and Housing direct housing construction. To this end, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) must be restructured to deliver rent to own houses across the country.”
The statement further urged that continental financial institutions like the African Dev Bank (AfDB) be encouraged more to support the industrialisation of the housing sector.
