by Olalekan Adetayo
The
Federal Government on Monday said in order to avert an imminent crisis
in the housing sector by 2020, a minimum of additional one million
housing units must be built annually in the country.
The Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development,
Ms. Ama Pepple, made the submission at a presidential stakeholders’
retreat on housing and urban development held at the Presidential Villa,
Abuja.
The retreat had as its theme, ‘Unleashing the
potential in housing sector as a key contributor to Nigeria’s economic
development.’
“Nigeria, with a population of about 167 million
people, requires a minimum of additional one million housing units in
order to avert a housing crisis by the year 2020 and beyond through a
variety of housing delivery models,” the minister said.
Pepple said being an important sector of the national
economy, the revitalisation of the housing and urban development sector
was important for the accomplishment of rapid national progress.
She said slum population in the urban areas was
estimated at 66 per cent, resulting in unplanned towns and cities,
inadequate infrastructure, rising urban poverty, inadequate housing,
increased rates of crime and insecurity among others.
Pepple identified some of the challenges confronting
the sector to include lack of political will to unleash a housing
revolution; policy inconsistencies and institutional instability; undue
politicisation; piecemeal strategy of housing delivery at the expense of
mass housing development; as well as lack of ownership/title rights,
partly attributable to challenges associated with the implementation of
the Land Use Act, 1978.
Others, according to her, are poor land
administration and little effort in computerising states’ land
registries; delay and high cost of processing land titles; cumbersome
and slow foreclosure procedures; non-availability and high cost of
construction materials; low capacity of builders and developers; and
unprecedented urbanisation, among others.
Punch
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