Address housing finance, land issues, stakeholders urge FG Ahead of the proposed Nigerian housing and construction summit planned for January 2015, stakeholders in the built environment bare their minds on their expectations from the Federal Government. MAUREEN IHUA-MADUENYI writes Affordable housing for all is currently one of the most talked about issues in the country, especially with a deficit of about 17 million units. But professionals in the building sector are of the opinion that before the problem of affordability could be tackled, the Federal Government should as a matter of urgency address two critical issues — housing finance and access to land. According to the Principal Partner, M.I Okoro and Associates, Dr. Meckson Okoro, the government and other relevant stakeholders cannot talk about affordable housing for Nigerians without first addressing the issue of housing finance, either for construction or acquisition purposes, adding that the issue of housing finance has consistently been a huge gap even during government planning. “The government makes little or no provision for housing and when it does, there is no deliberate policy that addresses the issue of making it affordable. In which case, we should be looking at having enough mortgage banking that will be able to muster funds to give people housing,” he said. Luckily, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, at a pre-summit event in Abuja said the initiative – a collaborative effort between her ministry and the Federal Ministry of Finance – would provide a platform for key players and stakeholders in the private and public sectors of the economy in the housing delivery chain to discuss challenges and issues militating against the provision of affordable housing in the country. “Accordingly, it will also provide an excellent opportunity for key stakeholders and partners in the building and construction industry in Nigeria to brainstorm and agree on the concessions and waivers that will be provided by the private and public sectors to enable all Nigerians to have access to affordable housing,” she had said. Okoro, however, insisted affordable housing would be a mirage if the issue of land was not attended to, adding that the Land Use Act must be amended. He said, “We can’t talk of housing for all when people cannot even afford land on which to build. As long as the governor of a state remains the trustee of land for the people of the state, then the problem will continue to be there. For us to talk about housing for all, we must address these issues of access to land and funding. These are two critical elements that if we don’t address them fully, we can’t be talking about housing expo or housing for all in the country. “I am not sure that the discussion is centred on the middle and low income people; the target should be high-end. If it is all Nigerians, then we are putting the cart before the horse. During the time of President Shehu Shagari, it was a political slogan; housing for all by the year 2000. Now, we are in 2014 and we are still talking about it; what it means is that the issue deserves a total overhaul. If after 30 years we are still talking about the issue, it means we have not found a solution.” Okoro lamented that no commercial bank in the country would be able to give funds for construction for a long term project. “What they give is for one to three years. Even when you apply it to loan for building, it doesn’t take more than one and before you turn it around, the interest rate would have been more than the loan itself. By the time the loan and interest are put together, it becomes embarrassing that the borrower cannot pay,” he added. The summit, he said, should be centred on a deliberate plan to address mortgage lending at a low interest rate and should not be about advertising products and services on housing. The minister had also said that to build a house in the country was a very expensive task due to the high cost of building materials, the prevalence of unskilled labour, unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks and high cost of providing the necessary infrastructure. She added that affordable housing cannot, therefore, be achieved without a drastic reduction in the cost of housing construction and other associated costs which invariably would determine the selling price. “Emphasis must shift to reducing the cost of housing construction in order to promote access to affordable homes to the vulnerable segment of our national population. It is pertinent, however, to note that affordable housing delivery for the low and middle income earners cannot be achieved without the support of the government and the provision of incentives to encourage the participation of the private sector,” she stated. The President of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild, Mr. Kunle Awobodu, said his expectation from the summit would be a reduction in building materials importation, waiver and tax holiday. “Although concessions and waivers are subject to the government and political office holders, a waiver, for instance, on building materials, will automatically reflect on the prices of the materials if the importers are not profiteers. Waivers lower prices and will reduce cost of building construction automatically,” he said. He, however, added that if waivers and concessions were considered, the government should ensure the implementation of the policies. Awobdu said, “Implementation challenges should be taken care of because the government can make policies and not implement it. Local producers of building materials should be encouraged through the provision of energy which is a major additive in the cost of production, taking the largest cost of production.” A first Vice-President of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Dr. Joshua Patunola-Ajayi, said the summit should view affordable housing in a holistic manner, taking into consideration the class of people who would really need it. He said, “When you say affordable housing, it means it is affordable; so even the woman selling pepper can afford it; the security guard and the cleaner can afford it. We have to look at affordable housing in categories; is it high rental or high income or low income? Under the low income, we still have people with little peasant means contributing majorly to housing for rent. So that what they have to pay is the rent. “There should be government’s involvement to look into all categories of people. They should look into one, two bedrooms; and studio apartments built in all local governments and run like council flats; so that people can easily have access to housing. Housing should be a government sponsored programme.” Okoro added that stakeholders should see the summit as an opportunity to look at the critical factors that would give people access to land and funding. “If we cannot address these two issues, it will be a mere jamboree. All arms of government have roles to play,” he said. 9japroperty.ng/main/category/news/address-housing-finance-land-issues-stakeholders-urge-fg
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 10:39:37 +0000
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