High Construction Cost, Unskilled Labour Bane Of Affordable Housing
Housing is one of the most
important human needs. The sector, according to experts could be a prime
driver of socio-economic development in terms of employment creation if
its potentials are fully harnessed.
In Nigeria, the federal government is saddled with the provision of housing for over 160 million Nigerians. The country is estimated to have a housing deficit that ranges between 16 to 17 million. The huge deficit exist because of challenges plaguing the sector such as high cost of buying land and houses; the low and no-income earners are the highest hit by this factor, poor mortgage system, non availability of lands, double taxation, difficulty in getting titles, cost of cement, lack of trained artisans, to mention a few.
Some developers over the years have constantly cried over the non availability of land and lack of fund to carry out a desired project. Most times getting mortgages is cumbersome so some resort to personal funding which may not be much. Other means fund were raised where through Joint Venture Partnership (JVP). Joint venture partnership is collaboration between real estate firms and land owners. In the process the land is given to the developer by the JVP as their equity contribution to mass housing development. As such the cost is pushed to the end user making it difficult for the low and no-income earner to own a house. Others that sort operate the joint venture partnership are left with no option than to buy land at very high rate making the end cost very unrealistic for the average Nigerian.
Reaffirming the difficulty presently experienced in the provision of affordable housing, the minister of housing Mrs, Akon Eyakenyi recently stated that to build a house in Nigeria is a very expensive task due to the high cost of building materials, prevalence of unskilled labour, unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks and high cost of provision of enabling infrastructure. She noted that affordable housing cannot be achieved without a drastic reduction in the cost of housing construction and other associated costs which invariably determine the selling price. “Consequently, for affordability to thrive, emphasis must shift to reducing the cost of housing construction in order to promote access to affordable homes to the vulnerable segment of our national population,” She added.
Source: Leadership news
In Nigeria, the federal government is saddled with the provision of housing for over 160 million Nigerians. The country is estimated to have a housing deficit that ranges between 16 to 17 million. The huge deficit exist because of challenges plaguing the sector such as high cost of buying land and houses; the low and no-income earners are the highest hit by this factor, poor mortgage system, non availability of lands, double taxation, difficulty in getting titles, cost of cement, lack of trained artisans, to mention a few.
Some developers over the years have constantly cried over the non availability of land and lack of fund to carry out a desired project. Most times getting mortgages is cumbersome so some resort to personal funding which may not be much. Other means fund were raised where through Joint Venture Partnership (JVP). Joint venture partnership is collaboration between real estate firms and land owners. In the process the land is given to the developer by the JVP as their equity contribution to mass housing development. As such the cost is pushed to the end user making it difficult for the low and no-income earner to own a house. Others that sort operate the joint venture partnership are left with no option than to buy land at very high rate making the end cost very unrealistic for the average Nigerian.
Reaffirming the difficulty presently experienced in the provision of affordable housing, the minister of housing Mrs, Akon Eyakenyi recently stated that to build a house in Nigeria is a very expensive task due to the high cost of building materials, prevalence of unskilled labour, unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks and high cost of provision of enabling infrastructure. She noted that affordable housing cannot be achieved without a drastic reduction in the cost of housing construction and other associated costs which invariably determine the selling price. “Consequently, for affordability to thrive, emphasis must shift to reducing the cost of housing construction in order to promote access to affordable homes to the vulnerable segment of our national population,” She added.
Source: Leadership news
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