Resolving Nigeria’s Housing Deficit

Development

Housing is a necessity of life and people-centric governments are not found wanting in ensuring their citizens are catered for. In Nigeria’s context, the federal government is still grappling with the issues of housing deficit and no way near bridging the gap. Nevertheless, solutions are being proffered towards resolving the challenges. Kunle Aderinokun reports

To ensure the continuity of human survival there are three basic needs that must be met; food, clothing and housing. It is the duty of the society to provide these basic needs for all, however the provision of these necessities for everyone poses a great challenge. Housing deficit is a global phenomenon and it is not in any way peculiar to Nigeria.

Over time the rural urban migration has impacted the balance of the housing industry creating an excess in the rural areas and a deficit in the urban areas. Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, aptly described the situation during the third edition of Lafarge Africa Plc’s Concrete Ideas series webinar, a credible platform for strategic discussions of critical and topical issues in the area of construction and other sections of its value chain in the construction and built environment saying; “In most of Nigeria’s rural areas, they don’t have housing challenges. Many Nigerians who are sweating for apartments in the city of Lagos, Aba, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kaduna, etc., probably own four –five-bedroom bungalows in their village, and the houses are empty and unused.”

In 1991, Nigeria’s housing deficit was estimated to be about 7 million units and in 2012, according to the statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the housing deficit in Nigeria stood at 17 million units.

Housing Deficit

The performance of the housing sector is a deciding factor in measuring the health of a nation. Similar to most developed countries, the housing sector is seen as important for stimulating economic growth. Unfortunately, access to affordable housing has largely remained an unfulfilled dream to the vast majority of Nigerians who are particularly in the middle and the lower income class of the society.

Fashola, who chaired the third edition of the Concrete Ideas webinar, with the theme; ‘New Solutions to Nigeria’s Urban Housing,’ , suggested that Nigeria doesn’t have a 17 million or 22 million housing deficit because there is no proven data to support that statement or claim; He, however, acknowledged that housing challenges are an urban problem that has risen as a result of rapid urbanization, and so, there is a demand and supply issue.

In the Panel constituting of Arch Sonny Echono, President Nigeria Institute of Architects; Builder Kunle Awobodu of Nigeria Institute of Building; Dr. Ayo Teriba, CEO, Economic Associates; Ms. Amaka Nwaokolo, CEO Blue-Tower House; Ms. Olajumoke Adegunle, Head of Mortar, Lafarge Africa Plc; and Mr. Femi Yusuff, Head Technical Products and Innovations, Lafarge Africa Plc, and moderated by Arit Okpo, CNN International African Voices Change Makers Host, they identified the following as some of the problems of housing in Nigeria; Housing affordability and accessibility, The issue of a lump-sum payment, The effect of high interest and exchange rate on housing finance, Abandoned government and private properties unused, Effects of salinity old buildings, Difficult access to land for building, and Local alternatives to imported building materials.

Reiterating the impact of Lafarge Africa Plc in alleviating the situation, Mr. Khaled El Dokani, the Chief Executive Officer said: “A lot of these solutions that we have developed can be implemented to solve quite some problems that the panel members have spoken about, through collaboration, coordination, and implementation.”

Solutions

After much deliberation on the issues, the panelists proffered the following action plans to remedy the challenges:

The National Planning Commission should ensure that the next census in the country must include homeownership and home rental census. It is impossible to solve a problem that we can’t be measured.

The Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning should use its fiscal and monetary policy muscles to bring down the interest and lending rates. Real estate is capital intensive hence the need to figure out how to provide affordable finance to players within the space, easing the process of accessing houses. With easy access to financing, the burden will be reduced for the end-users. And then, if flexible payment systems are introduced, affordability now becomes real. In addition, the states’ houses of assembly and the states’ Attorney generals should initiate legislation that will make housing affordable to Nigerians.

Furthermore, the panel called on a change in our building method, with special attention to the strata of our population in need of housing. Those who have purchasing power do not want four-bedroom housing, they live in small – spaces now and they carry their back-packs with their laptops and WI-FI; they use the shower, they don’t use baths.

The government should focus on opening up the rural areas with good road networks so that the opportunities that people are coming to town to look for can be closer to them.

Stressing on the new solutions for solving Nigeria’s Housing Needs, Mr. El Dokani, CEO Lafarge Africa said: “Lafarge Africa as a member of Holcim will surely adopt the same measure in Nigeria as our commitment aligns with the global sustainability strategy of building progress for people and the planet.”

Concrete Ideas series is Lafarge’s way of showing its commitment to building a world that is greener, smarter, and works for all through continued policy engagement with key players and stakeholders within the public and private sector.