Housing reform coalitions urged to stabilise urban rental markets

A new research has reiterated the need for housing reform coalitions to focus on addressing governance and institutional coordination within the public sector, stabilisation and support for urban rental markets, and tackling intersectional challenges in the building and construction sector.

These issues emerged as critical for the transformation of housing production systems, and by extension, human settlements – for driving the achievement of housing justice for marginalised communities.

The housing domain research was carried out in seven African cities including Lagos. Others are Addis Ababa (Ethiopia); Accra (Ghana); Dar es Salaam (Tanzania); Freetown (Sierra Leone); Lilongwe (Malawi), and Nairobi (Kenya).

The recommendation was part of a working paper written by the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) housing domain team: Miriam Maina, Ezana Haddis Weldeghebrael, Alexandre Apsan Frediani and Ola Uduku. ACRC is funded by UK International Development and the Lagos Housing Domain Lead was Dr Basirat Oyalowo.

The research aimed to fill gaps in the understanding of housing in Africa by examining the power relations and asymmetries that shape the housing sector.

The project builds on existing research, which highlights the impacts of persistent inequalities within the housing sector, and which has led to social, spatial and economic disparities, gender imbalances, urban poverty and lack of resilience.

The report’s analysis of housing production ecosystems in African cities was rooted in the global commitment to the right to adequate housing and sustainable urban development.

It was grounded in an understanding of housing as a fundamental right and a catalyst for improving shelter, quality of life, socioeconomic development, and human settlements as integral for achieving low-carbon urban transitions

The findings highlighted the interlinked nature of the housing production ecosystems and value chains. The report argued that existing housing research and practice fails to engage with the power relations and asymmetries that shape the nature of the housing sector in different contexts; and only engages minimally with the impacts of prolonged inequalities in the housing sector (including social, spatial and economic inequalities, gender imbalances, urban poverty and climate change impacts from current building materials).

It also fails to unpack the housing experience for different actors – including low-income households and those with different characteristics, from gender and age to nationality, as well as the hybrid (formal and informal) nature of actors’ access to networks.

Among the challenges identified in housing is the limited affordability of existing formal housing stock, which forces many low- and middle-income households to find alternative solutions through informal processes and systems.

“The affordability challenge is exacerbated by the fact that government subsidies or programmes for producers and consumers fail to effectively address existing systemic issues, including the affordability constraints associated with formal housing.

“Formal construction costs are equally affected by the costs of acquiring building materials, labour shortages and restrictive building regulations. Housing and human settlement developments are further hampered by delays in land administration and regulation systems, which then constrain investment and market exchange.

“With low- and middle-income households unable to access or afford formal housing finance, only the upper-middle classes and those on high incomes can secure access to finance to purchase or construct their own homes.

“The high-interest costs of housing loans, and the poor performance of the microfinance sector, in the countries where it exists, have meant that it remains problematic for those on low incomes to gain access to finances to enable them have improved access to better housing,” the report added.