One of the activities that made the Third Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN)’s 2019 Building Expo striking was the launch of the National Real Estate Data. The launch took place on May 8, 2019 at the Yar’adua Conference Centre, Abuja. The initiative which started in 2017 under the name National Real Estate Data Collation and Management Programme (NRE-DCMP) climaxed with what has become known as National Real Estate and Housing Data.
When talking about housing shortage in Nigeria, discussions are limited to factors like difficulty in accessing land, lack of/poor mortgage system, dearth of infrastructure and poor policy implementation.
It has however been realised that one of the biggest problems is lack of data on housing. Before now, government and developers wallowed in the dark in their efforts to tackle housing problems. The result had been uncoordinated and unrealistic attempts to meet the country’s housing needs.
For instance, there had been the general claim that Nigeria had a housing deficit of 17 million in 2013. This figure quickly jumped to 19 million without any clearly seen research work. Nobody even lays claim to this proclamation – it is simply there in the air. Planning based on these figures will therefore, yield no positive results.
Projects that would have greatly turned around the country’s economy are abandoned halfway because they were initiated on faulty or unrealistic footing. For instance, the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing in 2013 came up with the Ministerial Pilot Housing Scheme. Ms Ama Pepple who was Minister of Housing, Land and Urban Development, as the ministry was called then said the project would cover the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with a total of 4,200 housing units. It was tripartite agreement involving the ministry, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and private developers.
That project has not come to fruition, yet FMBN, in October last year launched another one known as Phase One of the National Affordable Housing Delivery Programme. This was for construction of 200 housing units for workers in each of the geo-political zones of Nigeria.
Similarly, the miss-match in demand and supply in the housing market has confounded investors. For instance, as many residents decry shortage of accommodation, many houses are unoccupied in cities, even as developers lament lack of off-takers as housing stocks remain unsold for many years. These and many other factors led to the interest in the survey that produced the National Real Estate and Housing Data.
The data comprise the quantum and types of houses available in Nigeria and the average cost of land/housing. They make available information on land titles, land use, building costs and housing market conditions as well as off-takers demography and income.
The data provide evidence-based information on real estate and housing development across the Nigerian housing value chain for the interest of policy-makers, investors and the public for planning and investment purposes.
The data are produced in both paper and electronic copies. The paper one is an 80-page document in five parts covering: preamble, overview of executed activities, data collation and management, Nigeria real estate data – statistical table and the way forward. Of course there are references and appendices.
Viewpoint Housing News is of the view that by producing the databank, REDAN’s onerous task has just begun. Laudable though this initiative might be, it will remain mere paper work if REDAN fails to engage stakeholders to properly understand and effectively put the product to good use.
Those in whose interest the data are produced should be made to easily access and correctly interpret and apply them in their daily work. This starts from publicising the data well. So far, information is not quickly accessible. REDAN said the data would be made available on the website of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) and REDAN websites.
We are also concerned that the total number of housing units across states of Nigeria has not been captured. This figure would have enriched further discourse on housing. One expects that effort of this kind should have given us not just the number of houses but those occupied and unoccupied because this has been a topic of discourse for many years. In fact, figures on both standard and non standard houses should have been given.
Similarly, information on houses that are on the verge of disuse or destroyed by either natural or man-made causes would have been in the picture. All this would help us in making decisions on housing in Nigeria.
More importantly, for the databank to be of great use to those who need it REDAN should periodically review them so they reflect current realities.
Census has not been conducted for long in Nigeria and mass atrocities have led to huge movement of people. We should put these factors in focus as they have capacity to affect housing.
One other vital thing that should trouble REDAN is the attitude of developers. The make it now, now syndrome among its members is a big problem. Developers are not oblivious of the fact that many workers take very little wage which hardly enables them to afford the kind of houses in the market. Yet developers are only motivated to build for the high-end. Even though this section of the market is saturated, developers keep building.
This databank might be the solution to the housing problems. However, our attitude to national service must change. Some developers build houses that would not serve the public. Apart from doing poor job, they present charges that are unrealistic. Some have been questioned by the agents of state over corrupt practices.
In places like Egypt, Uganda, we have developers who are building cities for their people. Nigerian developers must also show desire to work, not just for profit but also for the welfare of the people. This is necessary because housing crisis in Nigeria has reached emergency point.
Even though there are insufficient data on the actual state of affairs, it is indisputable that shortage of affordable housing occupies a dominant position in Nigeria. What therefore, matter most are the will and discipline of the drivers of housing policies and schemes to honestly and selflessly pursue affordable housing.