Nigeria may soon face an acute housing shortage due to inflation which has led to the high cost of building materials.
The Association of Housing Corporation of Nigeria (AHCN) stated at the opening ceremony of the 6th international conference on housing and exhibition in Lagos.
According to the association, low-income earners are more prone to the housing shortage as construction and the overall cost of building houses in Nigeria become more expensive.
Victor Onukwugha, AHCN’s President noted that the cost of building or buying a house is gradually getting out of reach of the average Nigerian.
The President underscores that housing is the second most essential thing to mankind after food, therefore the need to have all hands on deck to address the housing shortage.
Speaking on the theme ” Sustainable Housing Methods to Solving Housing Deficit in Africa.”, Onukwugha maintained that external factors such as political unrest and economic mishaps are some of the catalysts to the recent housing deficit in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
“The global economic and political crisis does not spare any continent as the effects manifest in the rising prices of virtually everything.
“The prices of housing units are continually on the increase and unaffordable especially in developing economies where people are not adequately empowered to acquire houses,” he said.
He thereafter advised the federal government to put more friendly housing policies in place to mitigate the effect of such factors.
It would be recalled that the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) recently estimated that Nigeria has a housing deficit of more than 28 million with the prospect it to rise higher due to the prevailing national and global challenges which include inflation, foreign exchange, and disruption in the global supply chain.
IHRC added that about 95.1 million lived below the poverty line in Nigeria and as such, it would be difficult for them to have access to their own homes.
Investors King understands that despite the introduction of the federal government’s low-cost housing programmes some years ago, many Nigerians have not been able to benefit from it.
