Committee On Development Of Blueprint On Affordable Housing Submits Report- Calls For Govt. Intervention

The Committee set up  to look into the blueprint for affordable and social housing delivery in Nigeria, has submitted its report to the Permanent Secretary, Lands, Housing and Urban Development , Mr George Ossi in Abuja.

Speaking during the event, the Permanent Secretary, said that the report was important and of immense value in the  face of concerted efforts by government to provide affordable housing to Nigerians. He reiterated government’s intervention in the provision of land, infrastructure, and payment of compensation to land owners, adding that this could reduce the cost of housing delivery by between 30%to 40%.

He also identified the need for direct government intervention to developers and off takers in obtaining loans to finance housing projects and payment of compensation to original land owners.

The Permanent Secretary assured the Committee that with the recent briefing by the Ministry to President Buhari and a follow up with the Committee’s report, government will look into it and come up with a position that will benefit all Nigerians regarding affordable housing delivery.

Chairman of the Committee, who is also the Director, Planning, Research and Statistics in the Ministry, Mr Aithelbert Mouka said that the Committee during deliberations observed that access to adequate and affordable housing was recognized as a core human right by the United Nations General Assembly Article 25, 1948, the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria and the Vision 20: 2020 document.

He said that the Committee identified the challenges to include: affordability gap in home-ownership; dearth of long -term funds; inadequate capital and resource base of  primary mortgage institutions; difficulty in accessing land and secure title of land due to the shortcomings in the provisions and implementation of the Land Use Act of 1978. The challenges also include insufficient domestic production and high cost of building materials; dearth of local skilled artisans and craftsmen as well as inadequate housing infrastructure.

The Committee recommended that governments at all levels should provide construction finance for social housing delivery for the poor and vulnerable and affordable housing for the working class nationwide as obtainable in countries such as Ethiopia, Morocco, South Africa and Singapore. It also recommended deepening liquidity of the housing finance market, recapitalization of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and the development of a Housing Finance Model involving the provision of affordable long-term mortgage finance ranging from 25-30 years.

Eno Olotu (Mrs)

For: Director, Press