By Hassan Zaggi
The nagging housing challenge in the country has been attributed to the poor implementation of well-crafted housing policies over the years.
The Managing Director of Family Homes Funds (FHF), Femi Adewole, who made his position known at the 16th Africa International Housing Show (AIHS), in Abuja, however, called for continued synergy between the public and private sectors in order to effectively deliver on the government’s housing mandate.
Adewole lamented that access to affordable housing remains a critical challenge which has not been resolved over the years.
“Although there is no shortage of policies and programmes enacted by various governments to tackle this problem, effective implementation remains a persistent dilemma,” he noted.
According to him, the housing challenge in Nigeria is presented in two primary forms which include the inappropriate housing supplied to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and the right proportion of existing stock and substandard housing which do not meet widely accepted standards.
He stressed that: “About 75% of the 42 million housing units we have in Nigeria are substandard. These challenges pose constant threat to citizens as many struggle to survive due to lack of food and sustainable shelter.
“The government continues to support the Nigerian mortgage refinance company, officially established in 2015 which guarantees and enables you to access the capital market competitively to finance mortgages. At the end of Q1 2022, the institution has refinanced an excess of N24.5b mortgages.
“The work that NMRC does is critical in deepening and increasing access of Nigerians on low income to housing, particularly home finance.”
He added that the government also provides infra credits to motivate a wide range of investors, particularly the Pension Funds, to invest in key infrastructure projects including housing.
The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Housing Authority, according to him, currently have a formidable and experienced board and executive management team who are well positioned to lead the transformation of the two critical institutions in the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to drive affordable housing delivery in the country.
