Nigeria’s escalating housing challenges

By Peter Abiade

HOUSING is one of the most basic needs of humans next to food. In the development of the society, housing plays a vital role. Its impact on a person’s living standard, health, welfare and output is profound. Shelter for the populace, improved access to educational and health facilities, employment opportunities are some of the ways housing enhanced the welfare of the people. Housing also enhances higher productivity and income for the people and for the society. One can now begin to understand why housing provision should be the most fundamental role of the government, and why it should be made a priority. Governments in the developed economies, talking of Europe and America in particular are known for prioritizing housing provision, be it public, cooperative and social housing. They have even shown stronger commitment to housing following the global health pandemic and the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine, two factors which significantly intensify the challenges of affordable housing delivery, homelessness, rising construction costs, energy, cost-of-living crises, and poverty. The critical challenges have made a reset essential, and their governments are responding accordingly, helping residents and communities to cope with the current cost-of-living crisis.

Unlike Europe and America, housing the population, particularly the urban poor in the developing economies, including Nigeria, is and has always been a prevalent challenge, requiring research attention and policy interventions over the years, notwithstanding. With an estimated population of 200 million people and 21 million housing deficit, the housing sector in Nigeria needs urgent attention, if the housing needs of the people are to be met. And when left unmet, housing deficit could snowball into upsurge in crime, ridiculously high house prices/rents, outbreak of diseases and poor living condition or standard. It is for these reasons that the United Nations called for the adoption of Goal 11, a global appeal targeted towards securing holistic perspective of the housing sector, with a clear objective of achieving quality and affordable housing units for all by year 2030.

Rapid growing population, rapid urbanization, rural-urban migration, search for greener pasture among other factors have led to most of Nigeria’s cities becoming homes to scores of individuals. The metro area population of Lagos, for instance, rose from 15,388,000 in 2021 to 17,156,000 in 2025. About  2,000 people are said to move to Lagos every day from different parts of Nigeria, and this influx of migrants has contributed to the rapid population growth of the city, and increase in the need for accommodation.   Lagos and other major cities in Nigeria are fast becoming homes to scores of individuals due to influx of people from the rural areas. With this trend,  there has been increase in the demand for houses across the country. The housing deficit crisis in Nigeria has worsened in recent times with the statistics showing a deficit of at least 21 million. The World Bank as of 2018 indicates that Nigeria requires about 700,000 housing units annually, spanning a period of 20 years to accommodate the rising population. This is highly unattainable with current indices, coupled with the sluggish growth of the sector and the economy.

However, there are prospects for the housing industry in Nigeria. There are lots of opportunities for development within the sector. Housing deficit or shortage in itself offer opportunities for investment, and development, but those opportunities can only be realized by conscious and intentional efforts of the government and critical stakeholders.  How can the policymakers lead the way out of the housing crisis? We should first and foremost realize that a high-quality housing sector is one of the benchmarks for socio-economic growth and development. There is no business and or human being that does not require real estate, so the sector is key, the potentials and opportunities are there. Investment in housing contributes to fixed capital formation, employment and substantial backward and forward linkages with the rest of the economy, but we need the economy to be properly focused, properly led and managed by policymakers and the government in particular so that the sector can thrive.

The Federal Government should make critical infrastructure development, with layouts for housing development, a deliberate programme and set up a robust agenda for housing delivery based on needs assessment obtained from reliable data collated by researchers, with a view to determining the exact housing needs across the various states and regions of the nation. Government should reorganise housing management, putting in place proper institutional framework that cuts across all levels of government, local, state and federal. Government should in addition, strengthen institutions that have to do with housing. A private sector-driven mortgage system with full government support in terms of policy and regulatory functions is a basic requirement. Acceleration of land titling programme for all states of the federation that will release plots with value for the housing sector is very essential, while special attention should be paid to the provision of social housing for the less privileged and vulnerable Nigerians. And of course, professionals in the real estate sector, particularly Estate surveyors and valuers, must be involved in the entire process, from conception to implementation and evaluation. It is pragmatic to thoroughly explore expert solutions to the difficult task of housing development in Nigeria.

•Abiade, an estate surveyor and valuer, is based in Lagos.

READ ALSO: How to address housing challenges in Nigeria —Experts