Build Affordable Houses To Address Housing Deficit

By Florence Adewale

Governments at all levels have been advised to put in place measures that will ensure affordable housing towards addressing housing deficit in the country.

A former Permanent Secretary, Dr Yemi Adelakun who gave the advise during a summit in Abuja described housing as key to improving the standard of living of Nigerians.

He also stressed the need for easy and adequate access to mortgage and other forms of housing finance which according to him are critical to effective demand to meet the yearnings of average Nigerians especially civil servants.

According to Adelakun, “The National Housing Fund, needs urgent fit-for-purpose review.
Other measures to consider in the Plan are access to land and titles for mass housing, provision of infrastructure and utilities through equity financing and social impact investments, adoption of disruptive building technologies, capacity building for professionals and artisans, incentives for local manufacturing of building materials, strengthening of institutions and public, private partnerships.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu started well by creating the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and by setting targets as well as key performance indicators”.

“I hope housing and housing finance institutions will work assiduously towards fulfilling the social contract and achieving the KPIs.”

In a remark, the Pro Chancellor, Federal University of Technology Akure, Dr. Godknows Igali who explained that despite the importance of shelter in Nigeria only 20 percent of the citizens have their own houses.

“This situation is almost an emergency for Nigerians to come together in this kind of forum, to bring their ideas together and work with the government for us to deliver mass, affordable and social houses to our people. I understand that it is only about twenty percent, you see all these houses all over only twenty percent of our population owns it.

It’s not like that in other countries, some countries have sixty percent, Seventy percent. Some countries are even going towards eighty percent, we must build houses for our people”.

The theme of the summit is” Renewed Hope for Affordable Housing in Nigeria”.

Edited By Grace Namiji