Group urges gov’t to address housing demand

The Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN) has urged the federal government to prioritise the demand side of housing for it to provide affordable houses to Nigerians.

The Executive Director of HDAN, Festus Adebayo, said to scale up housing in Nigeria, there is need to have an effective demand side that is supported by the government and geared towards home ownership by low income earners.

“The people that need the houses do not have the financial capacity to borrow and own them. So we need to create a leverage for them. Nigeria’s economy is resting on the back of only about 40 million employed people. And out of that 40 million, only about 10 to 20 million are gainfully employed full time.

“The rest may have income capacity, but no savings capacity. They cannot save money to make any down payment for their homes.

“For those people, there should be a way to convert their expenses into home ownership. A good example for that is the Rent to Own Scheme.

“There are also those who barely earn anything. Such people should be moved from unplanned settlements to planned settlements where their rents are subsidised so that they can save to own their own homes,” Adebayo said in a statement.

He stressed that the category of those who are unskilled should be trained and empowered to use their skills to earn a living and afford the rent.

He explained that housing is a function of the economic capacity of the individual hence many houses are being supplied but no buyers are demanding for them because of the affordability gap.

“It is about time the demand side is addressed. There has already been so many interventions on the supply side. The people should now be empowered to afford these houses.

“There should be affordable mortgages through salary deductions or through rent to own schemes. Houses are being built, but those who are supposed to occupy them cannot afford them. It shouldn’t be so,” he added.