‘In PH, 80% of buildings are occupied by their owners’ – Valuer

A chartered estate surveyor and valuer , Mr. Benjamin Oti has given a pass mark to the percentage of home ownership in the country, saying that Nigeria is not the lowest in home ownership among nations.

He said that Nigeria’s home ownership rate was not bad, as compared to other African countries by whatever method or means of comparison.
Oti who was speaking in an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt on the issue, said that a very high percentage of people occupying homes in Port Harcourt, were owners of such buildings.

“In Port Harcourt, 80 per cent of buildings are owned and occupied by their owners, especially in the Diobu area and the Port Harcourt township axis of Port Harcourt.

“In town area, owners are occupying almost all those building, as well as the Borokiri areas. In Diobu, Elekahia, Woji and the Rumuibekwe estates, I am sure that government has sold them to individuals”, he stated.

According to him, about 80 per cent of properties are owned by government in developed countries like Britain.

He said that in such countries, council flats apartments were prepared for simple persons, as a way of making life meaningful for their citizens.

Oti, however, urged government to take the issue of housing development as a priority, and that they should see housing as an area of investment and revenue generation.