I wish to laud the federal government’s move to accelerate the pace of reforms in the housing sector via the National Housing Fund (NHF).
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, had earlier stressed that there is a need to create National Housing Fund that developers can access at a reasonable rate to reduce housing deficit in the country.
Construction of houses must be private-sector-driven. This is because the private developers do not just build houses but ensure that the houses are properly maintained.
Government has no business in building houses or constructing houses for homeless Nigerians. It is the duty of developers to do so while the government facilitates the process. This will help in solving the housing deficit in the country.
We are happy that the Minister of Works and Housing has seen the need to solve this problem via a private-sector approach.
We believe it will be a win-win situation for the developers and the government.
I therefore wish to assure that private developers will pay taxes and create employment via the initiative.
To achieve the desired growth in the housing sector, it must be a private sector.
I also wish to call on the federal government to recapitalise the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, FMBN, to enable the apex mortgage bank to increase delivery of affordable housing in the country.
FMBN is the only bank that gives loans to developers at an affordable rate. They give loans to developers at 6, 9, and 10 percent. We believe that recapitalising them will solve the housing deficit.
At the moment, the bank is grossly inadequate to solve the huge housing deficit confronting the country.
The long-overdue recapitalisation of the bank is fundamental to the growth of the housing industry as it will empower the FMBN to service both the demand and supply sides of the housing market in Nigeria.
Alh Aliyu Oroji Wamakko, President, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN)
