The Real Estate Developers’ Association of Nigeria (REDAN) and Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) have called on the stakeholders in the real estate sector to focus more on addressing the nation’s housing deficit.
The two organisations said that adequate attention to the reduction of the huge housing deficit will make the sector more vibrant and also empower some Nigerians.
President and Chairman of Council for REDAN, Ugochukwu Chime, who spoke in Abuja recently,said that the call becameimperative because Nigeria has over 17million shortfalls and the market is available for such investment.
Lamenting that the country is yet to realize the sector’s potential, he said, effective demand needs to be enhanced and the impetus to create steady supply must be put in place.
Chime, who emphasized that addressing the housing deficit will have a game-changing impact on the society and our communities, posited that there was a paradigm shift in housing delivery approach from individual efforts to mass housing suppliers (developers) which he said, is an impetus to increasing the quantum of housing as globally acclaimed.
Also speaking, the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), Professor Danladi Matawal, said the demand for shelter is so pressing in less developed countries that it can only be met by “informal” housing often self-built, usually illegal, and almost always lacking basic infrastructure.
Matawal also called for investment in capacity building and skills development for the existing community housing sector, particularly in governance, development financing and project management skills while governments in Nigeria need to go beyond the provision of land and the policy framework to granting incentives in the form of import duty wavers on imported building materials and construction equipment and tax relief.
