How to tackle Nigeria’s huge housing deficit, by Nwokolo

Worried by the alarming rate of Nigeria’s housing deficit, a property investment consultant, Chukwuka Daniel Nwokolo, has called for a review of strategy by stakeholders in narrowing the growing gap in the housing sector.

Speaking to newsmen recently in Lagos, Nwokolo, who is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BuyRealEstateNG, lamented that despite the various policies and strategies adopted by the federal government aimed at combating the housing problems, not much has been accomplished.

According to him, whereas there is a burgeoning demand for affordable housing in the country, the existing strategies and interventions by government and other stakeholders have been insufficient in bridging the huge and growing gap in the sector.

He however noted that the country’s challenge of affordable housing can only be addressed by a comprehensive plan that will sustain new communities by opening rural areas.

Nwokolo said, “The head of the federal mortgage bank in Nigeria, Ahmed Dangiwa, did put the country’s present housing deficit at 22 million units; and the bulk of that is in urban areas — Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja. Opening up the rural areas will greatly reduce this deficit.

“In Abuja and Lagos more precisely, there are several houses that are vacant and not in use as a result of cost. But there’s no reason why these houses are very expensive, asides urbanization of these cities. There are quite a number of contributory factors and until this is tackled we would have more expensive houses with people not living in them, which is not good for our economy.”

“Though we are not where we used to be in terms of housing in the country, a lot still needs to be done. Major challenge in the sector rests on the fact that the full potentials of the sector has not been optimized, like exploring channels to build a more formidable framework between the big players in the industry and the investors”

The investment strategist continued, “Also one of our greatest challenges in the country has been the problem of investment. Inadequate Investment from the quarters of the government and also well meaning rich individuals and this has really taken a toll on the housing sector of our economy not forgetting poor infrastructure, unstable economy conditions, lack of access to funds, poor mortgage system”.

Nwokolo said BuyRealEstateNG is Nigeria biggest and trusted real estate company that attracts investment into the country’s housing sector through providing Luxury-affordable homes.

“As one of Fastest growing Real Estate Consulting Firm, we provide end-to-end support in enabling our clients get the best deals available in the Real Estate sector. We take you through a hassle free, strategic and smart ways to investing in the Nigerian real estate industry. With over 100 properties sold, we are determined to continue projecting the beauty of Nigeria to the world and attracting investment through providing Luxury-affordable homes.”