The President of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Bature Muhammad, has emphasised that Nigeria’s housing challenge can only be addressed through timely, accurate and reliable data generated by estate surveyors and valuers in the country.
 
Muhammad stressed that the core competency of practitioners in estate surveying and valuation, land administration, appraisal, facility management, sales, acquisition, relocation, and space management positions them to provide credible data required for policy formulation and property market operations.

He stated this at a stakeholders’ workshop titled “The Validation of the National Housing Data Programme’s Report and the Regulation of the Built Environment,’ organised by the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (FMHUD), in Abuja.
 
Muhammad lauded the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Dr Muttaqha Darma, for convening the timely workshop, adding that the event is expected to determine pivotal changes in the building industry and provide innovative, all-encompassing policy, development and regulatory solutions for the housing sector.
 
He pointed out that previous figures quoted as Nigeria’s housing deficit lacked empirical evidence and could not be substantiated or used as working documents for policy implementation.
 
The NIESV President noted that the workshop would produce strategic policies to enhance the regulatory framework and strengthen the national housing database.
 
He further proposed 10 key policy actions that include a national digital property register, quarterly national house price and rental indices, housing affordability, vacancy surveys, digital property identification system, yearly housing market report, integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Geographic Information System (GIS) in data collection, and legislative backing to ensure continuity and sustainability.
 
The institutions also align with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Housing Agenda and expressed their readiness to partner with government and stakeholders in the real estate sector.