Govt urged to tackle affordable housing bottlenecks

Stakeholders in housing construction have called on the Federal Government to address the challenge of poor infrastructure hindering the provision affordable housing to Nigerians. A communiqué issued at the end of the 9th Abuja Housing Show, signed by its coordinator, Barrister Festus Adebayo said with government intervention in the provision of adequate infrastructure, the overall […]

Stakeholders in housing construction have called on the Federal Government to address the challenge of poor infrastructure hindering the provision affordable housing to Nigerians.
A communiqué issued at the end of the 9th Abuja Housing Show, signed by its coordinator, Barrister Festus Adebayo said with government intervention in the provision of adequate infrastructure, the overall cost of housing will drastically reduce in the country.
According to the communiqué, private sector and development partners need to drive the research and development of alternative building technologies, in terms of providing the financial resources, technical assistance that can move tested solutions to scale and motivate investments in the solutions to drive structural transformation.
It stressed the need to review and amend the National Housing Fund (NHF) law saying that it is quite cumbersome and difficult for contributors to access the funds for housing finance.
“There is need for a regulatory framework that would cap prices at which houses could be sold.
“This is to checkmate excessive profiteering by private landlords and estate developers and save low-income earners from exploitation.
“Government should also encourage corporate organizations to incorporate the provision of homes to the communities as part of their corporate social responsibility,” the communiqué said.
The communiqué pointed out that recent positive developments in the housing sector are opportunities to sustain a shared sense of urgency among stakeholders in housing delivery chain to provide sustainable solutions to the bottlenecks to affordable housing delivery.