REDAN to FG: Provide affordable financing, land infrastructure for investors

Worried by huge housing deficit in the country, the president of Real Estate Developers’ Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Aliyu Wamakko, has called on the Federal Government to provide affordable financing, land infrastructure for investors to key into affordable housing production for the populace.

Speaking during the Africa International Housing Show (AIHS) held in Abuja, Wamakko said the call became imperative in order to bridge the housing gap in the country.

According to the REDAN President, government has no business in building houses because it cannot build and give them out free.

Butressing the call, he pointed out that Nigeria was not a socialist country; hence, the bulk stops at the table of private investors to help the government in building affordable houses.

He announced the unveiling of a special package for the 10th National Assembly: a four-bedroom terrace apartment with rooftop, a four-bedroom semi-detached duplex and two semi-detached duplex.

The project, he said was constructed for Nigerian lawmakers, some of whom are just new in Abuja, to ease their legislative duties.

The forum was organised by Festus Adebayo-led company with the theme “Beyond Rhetoric to Homes: Making Housing Happen.”

Past President of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Ayo Bamisile, also called on the Federal Government and the National Assembly to establish a mechanism to ensure that every landed property in the country is accompanied by legal documents that can be presented to banks for loan purposes.

He noted that there were numerous instances of dead investments in Nigeria, advising that by ensuring that every landed property is properly documented, Nigerians can tap into trillions of Naira that can be re-invested in the housing sector.

Group Head, Sales and Marketing, Dangote Group, Rabiu Umar, called on the Federal Government to urgently initiate a tax credit facility that would enable developers to embark on construction of affordable housing units to meet the deficit in the country.

Umar argued that tax credit has become imperative to achieve low-income houses.

He called the attention to the fact that the immediate past government introduced the same initiative in road infrastructure.

He urged the stakeholders to buy into the ideas by signing memorandum of understanding with estate developers and banks, saying housing remained a compelling need of citizens.

According to him, private and public sectors must synergise in the built industry towards resolving the affordable housing crisis.

Managing Director, Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company, Kehinde Ogundimu, tasked stakeholders in the housing sector to collaborate towards developing reliable housing data for the adequacy of homes in the country.

Data, he said remained arguably the most crucial commodity in today’s world, noting that it has become a new currency.

Chief Executive Officer, Octo5 Holdings Limited, a real estate focused company, Babajide Odusolu, said that verifiable data and collaborations between the public and private sectors would boost housing development in Nigeria.

Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Madu Hamman, stated that housing data remained a critical investment for the housing and mortgage sector to drive policy ideation.

He bemoaned lack of verifiable source of data or information across the housing and mortgage financing sectors in the country

“A lot of data within our system can’t be shared because there have been no empirical investigations to arrive at data that is widely across various meetings across the country,” he said.

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