Developer Tasks Govt. On Counterpart Funding

The Built Industry, under the aegis of Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), has called on the three tiers of government to provide counterpart funding to help reposition the industry.

Public Relations Officer, REDAN, Mr Chima Chukwubuchi, made this call in an interview in his office in Port Harcourt.

Tide reports that Chukwubuchi expressed  worry over the challenges developers face while trying to access funds for  building, stating that the interest rate of 28 per cent being charged by commercial banks was  rather  astronomical, saying, “there is no way developers would be able to provide affordable housing with this kind of interest rate”.

He explained that with the current interest rates charged by banks, developers would only end up working for the banks, adding that, the developer would have to add the cost of accessing funds to the house, which he said, would put the house out of the reach of even the middle income earners.

He expressed optimism that counterpart funding made  available  to the Federal Mortage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), which he said would be given to developers at low interest rate, would help reduce  the building costs and in turn  reduce the  housing deficit.

Chukwubuchi urged the government to organise mortgage procedures, cut on bureaucracies in accessing funds and eliminate the bottlenecks attached to land acquisition.

He noted that those challenges have led developers to employing unslaved cheaper labour, and use of substandard building materials resulting in building collapse.

He further said that these challenges contributed to the high costs of rents, uncompleted buildings and housing deficit and called for government’s quick intervention in addressing the plight of developers.