Alhaji Alhassan A. Dantata is the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Dantata Town Developers Limited. In this interview with TOPE SUNDAY, he speaks on how the country’s housing sector had fared in the last 60 years.
What is your assessment of the country’s housing delivery in the last 60 years?
Nigeria’s housing delivery is quite amazing and we have come a long way.
Though it is not what we want, we have achieved a lot. Housing has been revolutionised and we now have people living in flats, and this was not so at the independence.
Now things have changed. There are a lot of housing deliveries even if it is not enough. We have moved forward compared to when we got independence.
Shelter Afrique is branding the 22 million housing deficit figure but do you believe its assertion?
The figure may not be the exact one but definitely there are a lot of housing deficits because the purchasing power also contributed to this deficit.
A lot of people who want to own the house don’t have the means to do so.
Some of the houses are beyond their power and this contributes to the huge housing deficit we have in the country. If the mortgage companies can come up with innovative ideas, I think we can bridge the gap.
There are many fake real estate developers around. How will Nigerians avoid buying fake houses?
In the housing sector, you have to be very careful whenever you are buying a house or land from a developer.
You have to verify the title of the land from the right agency by asking the right question in the right place.
With this, you will be able to buy from the genuine developers who own the genuine title to the land so that you will not be in trouble at the end of the day.
