The Federal Government in 2010 established the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development as an expression of the resolve of the government to actualize the potentials of the housing sector.
It is charged with the responsibility of ensuring adequate and sustainable housing delivery and maintenance of a conducive living environment for Nigerians. Also, it is mandated to do urban renewal and upgrade slums in the county. The ministry, has two parastatals namely: The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).
The housing sector in 2013 under the erstwhile minister, Ms Amal Pepple initiated some policies to reduce the housing deficit in the country estimated to be 17 million.
President Goodluck Jonathan recently said that Nigeria needs a minimum of N56 trillion to be able to bridge the country’s 17 million housing units deficit, which did not cover the cost of providing infrastructure, translated to an average cost of N3.5 million per housing unit to remedy the situation.
Jonathan said his administration was aware of the conditions and the challenges facing settlements as the demand for infrastructure, basic services and housing was on the increase, adding that housing associated facilities were grossly inadequate, with millions of Nigerians living in substandard environments or slums plagued by squalor and lacking basic amenities of life.
To reverse this trend, he said government recently announced plans to establish the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Corporation (NMRC) to provide funding for the housing and construction sectors. The public-private partnership (PPP) initiative will be executed with the federal government, Nigerian commercial banks and savings and loans institutions, with the World Bank committed to providing concessional credits of $300 million.
Housing ministry policies
It developed the National Housing Policy (NHP) and the National Urban Development Policy which it said, is to ensure that all Nigerians own or have access to decent, safe and sanitary housing in healthy environment with infrastructural services at affordable cost, with secure tenure.
The ministry has championed the review and updating of the National Building Code in collaboration with the National Building Code Advisory.
The ministry, through FHA applied to the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for the allocation of 2,000 hectares of land at Kuchiko and Ija districts for the provision of 250 housing units under the Abuja New Town Development Scheme. At a Mortgage Finance Roundtable held on 3rd May 2012 FCT Minister Bala Mohammed announced the approval of the allocation of 1,000 hectares of land to FHA for the Housing Scheme.
The ministry is currently establishing 150 fully serviced residential plots per site in 13 states of the six geo political zones of the federation and the FCT. Some of the pilot site areas are in Kuje in FCT; Igbogbo & Oshorno II in Lagos State; Yola, Adamawa State; Bichi, in Kano State; Bida, in Niger State; Republic layout, in Enugu State; and Runmudmaya, Port-Harcourt in Rivers State.
The ministry said it has adopted an alternative building technologies in some of its the project sites. Worthy of note are the light gauge steel construction technology, plasswall and plassmolite technology, hydraform technology, and burnt bricks.
It said that the delivery of the housing units in Kuje, using he light gauge steel technology, has been facilitated by the establishment of a factory for the production of steel profiles. The factory, it said, has the capacity to produce the components for two housing units in a day.
Nigerians’ expectations this year
Adegoroye Adelakin, an estate agent based in Abuja called for affordable houses to be provided by the government to ease the financial burden of paying rent on Nigerians.
He said as an estate agent, he has seen the pains and agony many FCT residents pass through in renting and even renewing their rents annually.
“It is better seen than told. Many families are in dire need of decent affordable houses which the relevant government agencies saddled with the responsibility should do something urgently to address,” he said.
Another estate agent, Musa Ahmadu alleged that the houses being built are bought by some powerful Nigerians and then resold at exorbitant prices as the market dictates.
He said, “We’re the closest to the final consumer of these houses [tenants] so to tell you that affordable houses are readily available in the FCT is to tell you the opposite. But I think, if the issue of buying is checkmated and proper monitoring of the housing sector is put in place, the rent rate may drop.’’
Peter Okorie, CEO Welfare properties Ltd Abuja called for government to make land acquisition easier as well as reduce the cost of building materials to reduce the cost of properties.
He called for proper regulation of the activities of Estate Surveyors and Valuers and unregistered Estate Agents who according to him have adversely impacted on the housing business and by extension damaged the reputation of the profession.
He said, “I think all government said have been put in place to see that decent and affordable houses are provided for the populace is mere paper work. We’ve not been feeling the impact on the grassroots because houses are still expensive.”
A resident, Adaeze Okoye complained of the high cost of rent which she said is far beyond the reach of average residents.
“The rent is on the high side, rubbishing all these policies they said they have put in place. I was shown a one-bedroom flat in Lugbe at the cost of N600,000. It’s uncalled for-it’s even in a satellite town. As a civil servant, this is unbearable for me. As for my expectations in 2014, affordable houses should be built while rent rates should be regulated for the benefit of all,” Okoye suggested.
Mr Pino Ude, a real estate expert said the solution is in the establishment of an efficient mortgage securitization market where mortgage backed security bonds are traded to raise long term affordable funds for mortgages.
He said, “The good news is that the Jonathan administration through the Ministry of Finance just signed a $300million loan from the World Bank to jump start secondary mortgage market with the establishment of the Mortgage Refinance Company. The MRC will provide the long term liquidity the primary mortgage companies need at affordable single digit rates. Once this is done and the market develops we will see a major paradigm shift in the Nigerian mortgage finance section that will be a major contributor to the GDP of this country.”
Mohammed Abdullahi who is chairman of Febson Mall Plaza, Abuja said proper policy should be put in place to put shylock landlords under check. He wants tenants to be protected from brash landlords who take the law into their hands when tenants default in payment.
