Nigeria Needs 550,000 Housing Units Annualy To Curb Housing Deficit - Dangiwa
* Ministry ready for partnership with UK Build and Construction Trade Mission
Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa has expressed optimism that the huge housing deficit facing the country can be brought to a halt if a total of 550,000 housing units are built annually at the cost of N5.5Trillion, over the next ten years.
Dangiwa made this expression in a meeting with delegates of the UK Build and Construction West Africa Trade Mission, at the Ministry’s Headquarters in Abuja.
While noting that Nigeria has a 200 million population with an annual growth rate of 2.5 percent per annum, the Minister said that the current state of housing in the country was far from where it ought to be, giving the dual challenge of inadequate housing supply to meet population growth and sub-standard housing which does not meet the conditions of Habitability, Safety & Security, Comfort, Sanitation, Accessibility, Infrastructure, Social Amenities, and Socio-Cultural adequacy as set out by the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO).
He informed the team of delegates that the Ministry was combining urban renewal and building of new houses as part of strategies to address the problem of substandard houses, as the findings by a recent survey by PwC housing industry shows that 75% (i.e. 31.6 million) of the 42million housing units in Nigeria were sub-standard.
The Minister enumerated the action plans the Ministry has taken since his administration in rewriting the housing and urban landscape to include; the inauguration of Four Housing Reform Task Teams namely: Housing Institutions Reform Task Team, the Multi-Agency Project Delivery Task Team, the Land Reforms Task Team and the Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs Task Team, “All the housing sector reform task teams are in the process of finalizing their reports”, he stated
Arc. Dangiwa reviewed the implementation of the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme launched by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, in February with the groundbreaking of a 3,112-housing unit in Karsana, Abuja.
He explained that phase one of the program aims at 50,000 housing units across Nigeria with the Cities having 1,000 housing units per site in one location in each of the six
geo-political zones in the country and FCT, while the Estates, 250 housing units per site in the remaining thirty (30) States.
“So far, we have done groundbreaking for two Renewed Hope Cities under PPP (FCT and Kano), and Renewed Hope Estates in twelve States (Ebonyi, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Osun, Benue, Nasarawa, Oyo, Katsina, Yobe, Gombe and Sokoto), making a total of 6,612 homes”, he further explained.
He said the funding for the projects was from a mix of the Ministry’s 2023 Supplementary and 2024 budgetary allocation, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), and Public Private Partnerships with reputable developers.
Arc. Dangiwa further stated that the programme aims to address social inequality by providing a broad range of affordable ownership options which includes single digit and up to 30-year mortgage loans to be provided by FMBN, Rent-to-Own options and Outright Purchase for high income earners.
“We have also made cross subsidy a key part of our efforts to enhance affordability for low-medium income earners to foster integrated living. Under this concept, the housing units built in the Renewed Hope Cities will be sold at commercial rate while a substantial percentage will be sold at concessionary rates to low and medium income Nigerians”, he added.
The Minister also underscored the economic impact of the Renewed Hope Cities and Estate project growth giving that the construction and development of the new areas will generate employment opportunities, stimulate local businesses, and attract investments.
Accordingly, he informed the team about the launch of an online portal to ease the process of acquiring homes being built under the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme; “The platform has recorded over 28,000 applications since its launch. This is helping us to plan”, he noted.
On the Ministry’s Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrade Programme, Dangiwa was delighted to inform about an expansion, “Under Phase 1 of the Programme, the Ministry has projects ongoing in a total of 26 sites nationwide which includes four (4) sites in each of the six regions of the country totaling twenty four, and two in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)”.
He said key services of water supply, solar streetlights, rehabilitation of access roads, construction of drainages and waste management and sanitation services amongst others, were provided at the identified sites.
In addition, the Minister revealed that the Ministry was working to establish a National Social Housing Fund (NSHF) that would ensure that all Nigerians, including the no income, vulnerable, and underprivileged have access to decent and dignified accommodation, with potential sources of funding to include Budget Allocation, Executive Order – Tax Incentivs, Private Sector Donations – Telecomms USSD, Development Finance Institutions, amongst others.
Dangiwa as well told the team of delegates about a partnership with the World Bank towards the implementation of a National Land Registration and Titling Programme which aims to partner with State Governments towards improving land formalisation from the current statistics of less than 10% to 50% in the next ten years.
He requested partnership proposals from the UK Build and Construction Trade Mission for the Ministry’s consideration in the areas of the Renewed Hope Cities and Estate, Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrade Programme, as well as the building material hub, in order to work towards delivering on the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Earlier, the spokesperson of the delegates from the UK Build and Construction West Africa Trade Mission, the deputy Country Director, Morayo Adekunle, sought for partnership in investment opportunities, and providing funding solutions for the housing sector in Nigeria.
The delegates expressed willingness to collaborate and understand areas where the Ministry needs their global experience, through the infrastructure project authority arm of the UK which is the main infrastructure expertise for the UK government, working globally to support governments in capacity buildings, trainings, and preparation of all the projects that needs advisory, on a government to government level.
The team further requested for a working group to be set up at the Ministry for the purpose of engaging and scoping out opportunities, while they provide the needed technical support for the group.
