States and local governments can be innovative in so many ways and carry out works that can contribute to increasing the supply of affordable homes for civil servants and their families.
Stakeholders in the housing sector have called on state governments to put clear plans in place to address among others the needs of ordinary Nigerians to own a home and ensure a robust economic model for determining the distribution or the contribution of housing to their state economy and that of the nation at large.
States have a lot of resources such as local building materials that can be utilised by their Governors for the construction of affordable houses and if every state invests in the localisation of roads, power and other infrastructure in the rural areas then their people can benefit, and this can also help address the issue of urban migration in the country.
Prof. Charles Inyangete, Chairman, Innovative Risks and Investment Solutions Ltd says readily providing lands that are easily accessible to provide houses for civil servants, especially closer to places where economic activities take place is the first step in the right direction. He calls on them to make housing a top priority because it has a lot of benefits such as pre economic activities and infrastructure.
However, at 61, stakeholders say it is difficult to speak about the housing sector in glowing terms because it needs to comprehensively address a host of challenges stating that the Nigerian market is among the most fragmented on the African continent and needs consolidation across the entire value chain.
Mr. Ezekiel Ojo, Executive Director, Shelter Origins added that policy and laws centred around land availability and building of affordable homes are non-negotiable. He called on the state governors to see housing as a welfare programme for their people and make provision for it. Adding that they should have a plan bank whereby serviced lands are made available to their people so they can build houses that are affordable. The serviced areas should have infrastructure such as good roads, drainages and power among others, he said.
Governors were also advised to encourage development of infrastructure in all local governments to create an environment for investors to thrive while also making loans available for the people with a proper data bank for monitoring and seamless processes in the state’s housing industry.
Ojo also tasked Governors to create a library of drawings approved by the development control for citizens to easily access and build their own houses at a cheaper rate.
Communities are facing disinvestment due to a rise in mortgage foreclosures, however, Africa Housing News has been able to gather from stakeholders that making publicly owned land and long term accessible mortgages available for development of affordable homes and revisiting policies to allow more low cost homes to be built will help stabilize housing in states across the country.
