FG sets to check Housing deficit

The framework for conducting a National Housing Survey to establish and determine the housing deficit in the country has been developed by the Federal Government, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, has said.

She said the survey would determine the actual number of houses needed across the country instead of depending on estimates and unproven data.

Eyakenyi spoke to journalists at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja during a press briefing.
She said, “We have developed a framework for conducting a National Housing Survey with the overriding goal of establishing whether Nigerians are adequately housed or not.

“The survey will also help us to establish the actual number of housing deficit in the country instead of relying on forecasts, and the quantum of the investment needed to meaningfully address the housing gap as well as the capacity requirements for transforming the housing and urban development sector on a sustainable basis.”
Stakeholders in the built environment have often stated that Nigeria has a housing deficit of 17 million units.
But this figure was recently contested by the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria.

The President, REDAN, Chief Olabode Afolayan, had last month called for specifics with respect to the housing deficit in the country and stressed that the shortfall should be backed with data.
He had said, “The so called housing deficit in Nigeria is supposed to be backed up with data. We don’t rely on what they say as deficits so as to m
ake us invest, no. We want to know specifics. When you say 17 million, for instance, I don’t know the precise places where these are needed.
“Is it 17 million in Lagos, Calabar or where? We want to narrow it down to the location, type and value of houses that will reflect the exact demand of people. The demand must be married with the mix. We must narrow it down to what you can effectively pay for, or meet up with in terms of your economic capability.”

The housing minister told journalists that the survey was being undertaken by a ministerial committee under her chairmanship.
Eyakenyi said the committee had relevant stakeholders from the National Population Commission, National Bureau of Statistics, National Planning Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria as members.
She said, “The next step is to develop a project document for undertaking the survey, which will be carried out nationwide in collaboration with all relevant internal and external stakeholders.
“In the short term, a pilot study will be carried out in the Federal Capital Territory (representing the best housing case scenario) and other states (that will symbolise the worst scenario) to determine the magnitude of the housing deficit in Nigeria.”
She noted that from the trend so far seen by the Federal Government, the problem of affordability was a key issue in housing deficit.

“I wish to stress that this is the first time for a very long time that a housing survey is being undertaken in the country, specifically to address the concerns of the housing and urban development sector,” she added.