Kingsley U. N Chikwendu
Prior to 2015, Nigeria’s real estate sector was evolving appreciatively. The important roles the sector plays in the development of all tiers of government are difficult to be ignored. In a way, to emphasize the importance of affordable homes, public and private establishments have created policies that will enable their staff to own homes of their own.
If employing bodies will be encouraged to build homes to accommodate their employees, maybe, on a rent to own basis, it will be a massive step in reducing some of the family burdens on workers. Presently, some of these workers have majority of their income spent on accommodation.
The challenges that face the housing sector have derailed it from truly meeting its true potentials. Processes that are characterized with the acquisition, registration and allocation land added with some of the encumbrances of developing buildings on them are some of the impediments that slow the development of the housing sector.
When housing policies are not masses friendly in the type of economy Nigeria has today, it will be hard for an ordinary Nigerian to build a home of his own. It leaves only the rich to be in positions of building affordable homes and the ones they can put for rent or outright purchase.
Today, houses are built at exorbitant costs. Prices of building materials which are mostly imported and bearing huge costs of importation, have a significant impact on what the end price product of a home will be. When a developer puts all these costs into consideration, the price for acquiring such properties becomes high and difficult for low income earners to lay a glove on. It will be left for mostly the rich to rent or purchase, the gap between the high income and low income earners keeps widening yearly.
Also, the lack of compliance with regulatory and environmental laws may be one of the causes of the many reports of collapsed buildings and other ecological problems we have seen today. Ethics to becoming effective in productivity most times are lacking in the Nigerian work industry. Some workers of regulatory bodies prefer to take kickbacks than ensure that developers conform to statutory construction standards or guidelines.
More so, friendly mortgage loan policies should be made for everyone, even for developers. There are limited sources of funds for those who intend to become developers in the country and since real estate development is a capital intensive venture, it is inevitable that developers would need external support to finance house developing projects.
Nigerian banks are not encouraging with their huge interest rates for developers. The long list of developers on the waiting list for Federal Mortgage Bank loans and other Federal Government loans is discouraging. The Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company that was established to bridge the funding of residential mortgages should do more for its effect to be felt and to create more awareness.
In spite of these challenges, the housing sector has huge employment and investment opportunities, it guarantees returns on investments. This will be more possible if the right polices are made and implemented.
