Housing deficit: Stakeholders canvass innovative financing, infrastructure
At the recently concluded 11th Abuja Housing Show organized by Fesadeb Limited, stakeholders in the housing sector have called for innovative financing and sustainable infrastructure to address the nation’s huge housing deficits.
This is just as they urged for government’s intervention in the sector given its employment generating potentials.
These were contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the summit organized by the company.
According to the communiqué issued at the end of the summit, “We need appropriate innovative finance and infrastructure to address the country’s housing deficit of over 17 million units. There is the need to build at least one million housing units per year in spite the problems of high cost and high interest finance, through appropriate government policies.”
The stakeholders noted that housing for the poor or social housing programme needs at least N1 trillion through the private sectors, but mainly public sources, to also stimulate economic growth for the entire country.
Hence, Federal Government should contribute N100billion and mobilizing business and private sectors to also partake in the programme. The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) needs to be recapitalized to provide decent houses for people in line with the provisions of the programme.
They observed that multi-finance approach to housing programmes also requires critical evaluation to enable partners, like the Nigeria Mortgage Refinancing Company (NMRC), to play their roles effectively. They say the contributory pension scheme should be explored to make available funds for investment in stable outlets like housing.
The Daiy Times gathered that innovations in the sector can create jobs, even through informal markets feeding housing construction value chain and other related sub-sectors, just as, instituting innovative solutions could also tackle housing infrastructure problems.
They say that, “We need to identify our responsibilities and assign them efficiently. Construction of houses should reflect culture and not to destroy traditional architecture that also relates efficiently with other areas like roads, recreational and open spaces.”
Accordingly, the summit said that experts’ attention is needed to address deficit issues by examining the increasing phenomenon of vacant houses in Abuja in order to be made affordable to those in need. Affordability test, the communiqué said, for example, can determine those in need and can afford housing, because salary alone cannot fund mortgage, resulting into housing units not been affordable by the contributors because salaries could not service present mortgage arrangements.
Stories by Babajide Okeowo
