‘Why vacant houses should worry govt’ 

Stakeholders in the housing sector have stressed that the federal, state and local governments must critically look into millions of vacant housing units that are either abandoned or completed in different locations in Abuja and other state capitals.

In addition, they have argued that it would be impracticable for developers to embark on massive affordable houses while the ones constructed over 40 years ago in most districts are not occupied.

According to them, the government should take inventory of houses in Abuja and all over the country to know the unoccupied ones, saying the current 28 million housing deficit might have been ascertained before initiating the new homes in the country.

However, there are existing empty houses ranging from one bedroom, two, three, four, and five bedrooms littering many locations like Asokoro, Garki, Maitama, Utako, Jabi, Apo, Gwarinpa, Gudu, Kabusa, Dei Dei, Karsana, Kuje, Lugbe, Airport Road, Jabi and Guzape.

They insisted that the “fact remains that the existing houses in our cities are enough to establish evidence for policymakers and planners to make sure that governments do not embark on the construction of apartments without knowing the ones completed, and are not occupied.”

Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, has however expressed concerns about the trend, stating that the most pressing data challenge would be addressed to accurately determine the extent of housing deficit the country is grappling with.

Dangiwa noted that this has been a source of embarrassment and hindrance to effective policy-making and strategic planning, echoing that it is time to take coordinated action to bring clarity and credibility to the deficit and state of housing in Nigeria.

“We must work to establish accurate, credible, verifiable and scientifically accurate data on housing stock and the living conditions of the homes that citizens live in countrywide. Policies and projects shaped by data are not only effective, but also accountable to the people,” he added.

The minister emphasised that they would construct 50,000 housing units across the federation, as the cities would have 1,000 units per site in one location in each of the six geopolitical zones, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) estate projects would have 250 homes per site in the remaining 30 states.

Also speaking, the Managing Director of Shelter Initiative Limited, Mrs Morenike Babalola, observed that the housing deficit is a challenge to both the private and public sectors, adding: “Still, there are no authentic data for the demand and supply of houses in the country generally.”

Babalola explained that this is one of the issues the Federal Government and private developers are still brainstorming on.

In his contribution, Nasir Isa Kwarra of the National Population Commission said the parley is a critical step and a timely exercise, explaining the housing shortfall or inadequacy in the supply of affordable and suitable homes to meet the demands of citizens and ensure stocktaking.

Mr Ezekiel Ojo of Shelter Origins, a faith-based organisation, said they planned to continue to deliver low-income houses, but regretted that hunger and hardship have compounded the situation, taking a look at the prices of cement, and others, yet, unoccupied apartments are all over in Abuja and other cities.