Don't Miss


Home   >   Housing   >   50% of Nigerians need social housing —Experts

50% of Nigerians need social housing —Experts

By on June 11, 2015

Stakeholders in the real estate financing sector have said that more than 50 per cent of Nigerians cannot afford homes developed by private sector investors and, therefore, need social housing.

According to some of the stakeholders, who spoke at the Lekki Gardens’ Investment Forum in Lagos on Tuesday, about 85 per cent of Nigerians still live in rented apartments and pay more than 40 per cent of their annual income as rents, while less than five per cent out of the remaining number purchase homes through mortgages.

The Chief Executive Officer, Lead Capital Plc, Prince Bimbo Olashore, noted that the real estate sector, despite its potential, was plagued with several challenges.

“About 50 per cent of Nigerians need social housing because they cannot afford the luxury developments that are currently being built,” he said.

Olashore said land registration, access to finance, infrastructure deficit and importation of raw materials were some of the problems in the sector.

“It takes 82 days to register land and about 20.9 per cent of the value of the property is also required; these are challenges but they are also not insurmountable,” he added.

The Managing Director, FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, Mr. Rilwan Belo-Osagie, said that with the rising population of the country, there should be better policies to propel the housing sector.

“Development for low income earners is almost non-existent and the bankability of residential real estate is still a major issue. We will always have challenges in the sector except the problems in the value chain are addressed,” he said.

According to the Managing Director, Infrastructure Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Adekunle Oyinloye, the sector is plagued by untapped potential, especially in the residential real estate subsector.

He said both the government and the private sector needed to figure out ways of reducing the housing deficit in the country.

“There’s nowhere in the world where social housing is left for the private sector or the pricing won’t be right for those who really need housing,” he said.

Belo-Osagie said the government could start by putting infrastructure in place before every real estate development.

“A developer should not be the one providing access roads, electricity, water and other amenities, or he will add it to the cost of housing and take it out of the reach of the people,” he said.

 

[Punch]