PROPERTY NEWS

One of the cardinal points of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s Seven Point Agenda (SPA) is the provision of housing for the masses at affordable cost.

Albeit, much noise was made in respect of this objective in 2008 by the relevant ministry responsible for housing matters in the country; nothing concrete was achieved even with the presidential mandate to the Ministry of Housing that it should provide one million housing units before the end of the life of this administration.

As activities gradually pick up in the New Year, professionals and stakeholders in the built environment are urging the Federal Government to make its housing policy more pragmatic

According to them, housing is vital to any nation that is desirous of addressing the problem of acute accommodation which is a major feature of developing countries of the world.

The immediate past chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Kunle Awobodu, said that if government was desirous of providing shelter for the people, this year should be the time to do so. He added that for this to be possible, the political will must be mustered.

Awobodu, however, noted that government alone cannot embark on the provision of mass housing without involving the private sector.

He added that what government needed to do is to create an enabling environment for more players to come on board.

The principal partner, Akin Olawore & Company posited said the government should not only make the issue of housing a top priority but should also declare an emergency in the housing sector.

He canvassed for a Public Private Partnership (PPP) in order to make the provision of mass housing a reality, adding that all what government needed to do, was to provide the enabling environment for the sector to thrive.

Olawore, a fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), said that if the government provides land for as he put s it, mass housing requires massive land for construction, and developers would be encouraged to build using funds from the banks.

He pointed out that the banks should be willing to make loans available to ‘serious’ developers who will in turn, now put into practice, their skills in development.

Olawore also canvassed for a secondary market, pointing out that the funds that were lost at the capital market would have been better channelled into real estate.He added that the real estate sector would definitely peak in the New Year.

He appealed to the Federal Government to as a matter of national interest take the issue of housing very seriously in the New Year, noting that the shortfall the housing stock in the country was too enormous. He added that the sector needs a surgical attention.

In his own submission, the Chief Executive Officer of Wichteh Industries Limited, Chidozie Nwankwo, lamented a situation where most Nigerians cannot afford a roof over their heads, adding that this development should worry any serious government

Nwankwo, who is also a developer pointed out that in order to achieve this laudable initiative,iot is imperative to bring in the private sector in any development, especially mass housing..

According to him, all hands should be on deck to ensure the realisation of the hosing programme of the present administration, pointing out that mass housing ‘is not a tea party’.

He urged the Federal Government to make it a point of duty to involve private developers in its quest to build mass houses for the people. He was quick to add, that unless the private sector was involved, it would be an exercise in futility.

‘As a matter of fact’, he noted, the Yar’Adua administration should as a policy, make housing matter a focal point before he leaves office.,

A chartered builder, Mr. Godwin Erhabor, said that the issue of housing should top the agenda of any serious government, noting that shelter was very crucial for any economy to grow

According to him, no serious government should relegate the issue of hoisting to the background, adduin ‘in the words of Madiba, Nelson Mandela, a man without a roof over his head is regarded as a half man’.

He said that he shares the views of those who posited that housing should be brought to the front burner. as a result of its importance in the economy..

Erhabor however, notesd with regret, that successive governments at the Federal level have failed to address the issue of housing with the necessary vigour that it deserves, adding that 2010 should be an exception.

According to him, the little time left for the Yar’Adua administration to quit office could still be used to address the problem of the short fall in the housing stock.