Fatimat Haliru —
Housing professionals in the Nigerian housing industry have said lack of collaboration is the biggest problem undermining the sector.
Pointing out high cost of land, high building materials’ cost, high cost of obtaining planning approval and title, low purchasing power of people and high interest rates, lack of government’s cooperation as factors slowing down the industry, they believe that despite efforts by individual developers and firms, absence of affordable housing and mortgage still persists in the sector.
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Looking for a common ground for a major turnaround, the experts said that would require collaboration among all stakeholders
They are of the opinions that mortgages should be created for all the houses being delivered by the private developers and agencies of government.
They argued about the readiness of agency to support Shelter Afrique, which has disclosed plans to invest in Nigeria’s housing sector.
According to the founder and chief executive, Cromwell Professional, Mr. Sola Enitan, the first point is to define the grounds for collaboration.
He said “I think we first need to define the grounds for collaboration. What type of housing is proposed for development and who are the houses meant for and where will the houses be built?
“Is the Federal Government a good home provider or is it better to work with the states of the federation whose governors hold land in trust?”
Enitan believes that other questions should be answered before putting in place a strategic plan for implementation.
An expert, Onabekun Adeku, stated that collaboration would only be achieved through identification of risk in the built environment, consideration for environmental targets and impacts, development of a strategy, establishment a methodology for consistently gathering data, validation and verification of data and sustainable decision making.
According to him, developing a strategy for affordable housing must be with political will and value preposition involving all stakeholders.
