Housing cost in Abuja

The recent killing of some Abuja urban poor by the security operatives on reason of “constituting security threats” or being insurgents should be of great concern. A former minister once stated that Abuja is not for the poor, although he later explained that he was quoted out of context. Be that as it may, the […]

The recent killing of some Abuja urban poor by the security operatives on reason of “constituting security threats” or being insurgents should be of great concern. A former minister once stated that Abuja is not for the poor, although he later explained that he was quoted out of context. Be that as it may, the prevailing situation in the city with regard to accommodation of the urban poor leaves much to be desired. Although shortage of decent accommodation is a general modern world challenge, the situation in Abuja is seems to receive only little concern from relevant authorities. Policy statements are made but never matched with action. Mass housing schemes hardly reach the masses. This is what informed the choice of the theme “De-Leveraging Urban Bias and Imbalances in Cities” at this year’s Abuja town planner’s day last August.
The key components influencing housing affordability are land, infrastructure, housing finance, building materials and labour. Facilitating easy accessibility to land should be the most important aspect to address by government. However with the prevailing policy of the government, opting to trade land like a commodity (in exchange for infrastructural development), one should only expect higher cost for land and invariably higher cost of housing. Lands are allocated for mass housing development but the government is indifferent to the type of houses produced towards ensuring affordability. It is expected that the city’s satellite towns where the urban poor can tave solace is such that cost of commuting to the main city is affordable. But mass transit facilities are grossly inadequate both in number and quality.
Meanwhile, housing affordability to the citizens is too important to be left out among the provisions in the Abuja master plan. We have always reiterated the housing crisis in Abuja is more of affordability than availability. And this is chiefly due to the failure of government to abide by the provisions of the plan. Specifically, in its survey to guide its housing proposal, the plan observed that many housing programs failed because they were not tailored to a target population’s income level, such as the households’ ability to pay. Master plan agrees with the fact that housing programs have met with little success when based on “needs” translated into arbitrary (and unaffordable) standards rather than on affordability and willing to pay.
Increase in the cost of property in Abuja is very rapid, because it is substantially guided by speculation. It must be noted that increase in property cost also influences inflation.
It is not possible for the private sector that is profit oriented to subsidize its product. However, the policy was implemented only on the public sector; to a great extent it checks the skyrocketing cost of housing. If not for anything the subsidized government housing were playing the role of stabilizing forces to the property market. Unfortunately, that policy of subsidizing the houses for the government employees which access is strictly by the duration of tenure in the service was jettisoned and the houses sold to the occupants.
Rather than being occupied by the direct beneficiaries of the government sale, most of these houses are now sold. The costs of houses sold at N3million have now multiplied tenfold within eight years only, and rented by the buyers at exorbitant costs. Apart from the personal benefits to those that benefited directly by the government sale, it has now turned out to be detrimental to the general public.
According to the rules in Abuja, it is illegal to live in uncompleted houses. But to be fair to the urban poor, in such circumstances, do they have any option? Now that we have started losing lives, as it happened in the case of the Apo Killings, would authorities still not be serious on ensuring that housing becomes affordable?