Affordable Housing: Developer, Others Canvass Regulation, Subsidy

Managing director of Leisure Court Estate Mr. Segun Abolaji and some communication experts have called on the federal government to assist in regulating activities in the housing sector to curb the incessant hike in housing materials and land affordability.
Abolaji and the experts spoke separately at the 2024 Real Estate/Housing Reporter‘s Workshop, yesterday at the Merit House in Maitama, Abuja.

The firm boss said to make houses affordable for Nigerians, the government must make land accessibility easy for developers as well as put in place stringent measures that will help to control the increasing prices of building materials.
“The government should always regulate activities in the housing sector, especially the prices of building materials.
Without government regulation it will be difficult to make houses available in the country, we don‘t find it easy accessing land, so because of the challenges developers are forced to put their property on rooftops“, he stressed.

In his presentation titled: ‚Journalism and business environment‘ Dr Law Mefor called for legislation that will check the activities that lead to the building of structures that officials of government tagged illegal and demolish them without playing their monitoring role.
He blamed the alleged illegal structures on the government, saying officials of the government have not been doing enough monitoring.

Mefor said, „Officials of the government are not doing enough in the area of checking illegal structures, which is why most of them allow buildings to be completed before calling them illegal and demolishing them. There should be stringent measures in place to check development, especially the building of structures, as the situation is bringing about a lack of shelter or a shortage of houses.

The government should construct mass houses that will cover all classes of individuals nationwide and give them out on mortgages to people. Again, the provision of infrastructure in areas earmarked for houses“

In his remarks, the Chairman Property & Infrastructure Correspondents‘ Association of Nigeria, Tope Sunday said government and strategic stakeholders should work out ways that will promote subsidies in the building industry.
Government and strategic stakeholders in the building environment should subsidise the housing sector, it will help to provide enough houses nationwide,“ he said.