Slum dwellers
The searchlight of the July 2025 edition of the APD Global Performance Index (GPI) Bulletin focuses on Nigeria’s performance in the global housing index (GHI) among other world economies. The Group Director of APD, March Oyinki throws more light on Nigeria’s perennial housing shortage, it’s causes and efforts made by the federal government to address the lingering housing deficit.
The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (FMHUD) define housing as the process of providing safe, comfortable, attractive, functional, affordable and identifiable shelter in a proper setting within a neighbourhood, supported by continuous maintenance of the built environment for the daily living activities of individuals/families within the community, while reflecting their socio-economic, cultural aspirations and preferences.
Housing deficit, as described by the Collins English dictionary, is the deficiency or lack in the number of houses needed to accommodate the population of an area. The provision of housing is a fundamental human right, as enshrined in the United Nations Habitat Agenda. The availability of safe, accessible and affordable housing for the population is a necessity and an obligation the government owes the citizens of the country.
The housing deficit in Nigeria is one of the highest in the world, according to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN). The report also show that for the country to bridge the gap, it needs to construct approximately 700,000 houses annually for the next 20 years.
The housing deficiency in Nigeria has spanned decades, going as far back as the administration of General Gowan, the military head of state of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975. This non availability of decent accommodation for a larger number of the population of the country has defied every effort of the federal government till date, despite the collosus amount of money shanked into the housing sector.
The Punch Newspaper of September 25, 2023 reported Industry experts as revealing that Nigeria has a meager 20 percent home ownership rate among its population of 238 million, placing it significantly below one of its peer nations, South Africa, with a population of 56 million, and a home ownership rate of 67.7 percent. This shows that Nigeria has a startling housing deficit of 80 percent, with over 190 million of its citizens are without a home.
There are several factors that are responsible for the increasing housing deficit in Nigeria, and among them are: accessibility to quality housing, high cost of rents, exorbitant land registration charges, delays in land ownership documents approvals, cost of building materials, poor housing policies, inadequate mortgage funding, arbitrary and unlawful demolition of privately owned buildings, just to mention a few.
The federal government has been consistent in its attempt to close the existing high shortage in the provision of affordable and safe housing for the teeming population by introducing some new policy measures to address the shortage.
The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FCMB), as part of the federal government efforts to facilitate increased access to funding for the construction of low cost housing and as measures to help bridge the existing shortage of affordable housing in the country. The leading federal mortgage institution in a statement released during the 46th Kaduna International Trade Fair in February 2025, announced the raising of the ceiling of the mortgage facility for its National Housing Fund (NHF) from ₦15 million to ₦50 million, an increment of 333.33 percent.
Apart from the 30 million housing units that the Federal Ministry of Housing and Rural Development plans to provide as contained in the 2025 budget, additional measures were taken to promote urban housing development. The Minister, Arc. Ahmed Musa Yar’adua in a statement on March 17, 2025 during the Renewed Hope Housing Public-Private Partnership (PPPs) Summit, which was held at the Shehu Yar’adua Center. FCT Abuja, revealed that his ministry is partnering with Shelter Afrique Development to deliver 5000 affordable housing units as a key strategy for address the country’s housing deficit.
Considering the prevalent situation of a near state-of-emergency in the housing sector, it has become necessary to call the attention of the federal government to re-examine its housing policies, especially, in implementation and construction approvals. There is also an urgent need for the government at both the federal and State levels to review the tenement laws as a way to curtail the incessant increment of the cost of house rents and control the excesses of property owners, real estate developers and agents.
The heavy and often excessive burden placed on builders and land owners by exorbitant land registration charges, deserves an urgent consideration by the government in order to drive rapid growth in the housing development and construction of affordable accommodation for low income earners. The government, as a matter of high priority, needs to take measures to reduce delays in the processing and approval of land ownership documents and review the present price regime in the processing and approval charges for construction and building documentation.
The cost of building materials is one of the single most destabilizing factor that affects the cost of building construction and housing pricing. A review of the critical trade policies in the housing sector that addresses import taxes of raw materials for the production of steal products and roofing sheets, as well as a reduction of the bottlenecks in cargo handling at the country’s sea ports.
The recent interventions by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FCMB) is a welcome initiate as it will promote the participation of private property owners in the construction of affordable housing. Additional measures by the government to relax some of the stringent criteria for accessing funding both by individuals and mortgage outfits is essential to ease the access to mortgage funds,
The Public-Private Partnership arrangement by the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, (FMHUD) as a way to increase rural housing development, is a step in the right direction. However, if we consider the scale of shortage in the country’s housing needs, the planned 25,000 housing units, even if it is on a yearly basis, of the combined efforts of both the PPP and the 20,000 housing units in the budget, it is still a far cry from meeting the country’s 700,000 housing units threshold annually.
There is nothing as devastating and as discouraging to a prospective property owner or real estate developer than the inexplicable unlawful demolition of privately owned buildings and those owned by properties developers, especially in the FCT, Abuja and Lagos, which are the two leading metropolitan cities that attracts the most housing ownership both for investment and private residential purposes. The impact of this insane and often illegal demolition, apart from the enormous financial loses to the property owners, the post traumatic effect will last for a long time.
The consequences of these actions by the government not only have far reaching and inestimable negative mindset of dwellers in these cities, and it will become a critical evaluation criteria for decision making when considering the location for housing projects in the country. Weighing the implications of such actions, mostly by governments in these two cities, the federal government needs to intervene urgently to salvage the housing sector from a looming glut.
