It’s no longer news that Nigeria needs over N60 trillion to bridge its housing deficit of estimated 20 million units. To fix the accommodation gap of the low-income group, experts are calling on the Nigeria president-elect to borrow a leaf from the US President Joe Biden’s proposal to boost budget for affordable housing nationwide by $1.1 billion to $73.3 billion nationwide. DAYO AYEYEMI reports.
NIGERIA’S real estate experts are calling on the Federal Government to take a cue from the President Joe Biden Administration and invest massively in affordable housing.
This, they said would help to bridge the increasing housing deficit of estimated 20 million units among the low-income/ vulnerable group.
The latest call is triggered by the latest report on US President Joe Biden’s proposal to boost budget for affordable housing nationwide by $1.1 billion to $73.3 billion nationwide.
The proposal, which was praised by housing advocacy groups, was to bump the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s budget by $1.1 billion to $73.3 billion, a 1.6 per cent increase from fiscal year 2023.
If enacted, housing advocates said the budget request would provide substantial federal investments in affordable homes and increase the availability of housing assistance to families with the greatest needs.
The plan laid out in Biden’s budget proposal specifically calls for investments in the following HUD housing programs: HOME Investment Partnerships Program; Fair Housing; Community Development; and Housing Choice Voucher Program Expansions
The HOME Investment Partnerships Program is one of HUD’s major initiatives aimed at helping state and local governments buy, build and rehabilitate affordable housing.
Under Biden’s proposal, funding for HOME is expected to increase by $1.6 billion, a $300 million increase over the previous year.
According to HUD, the requested funding would build nearly 15,000 units of affordable housing for new homebuyers; provide 13,300 units of newly constructed and rehabilitated affordable rental units; allow 6,622 units of owner-occupied rehabilitated housing for low-income homeowners; and provide rental assistance for nearly 12,000 low-income households; and preserve or create more than 32,000 jobs.
The HOME request also includes $100 million for a new home down payment assistance program for first-generation homebuyers of low and moderate incomes.
The budget also includes $90 million to support state and local organisations that enforce fair housing laws. That funding, which is $3.6 million more than what was enacted in FY 2023, would also be used for outreach and education initiatives to address race-based housing discrimination.
Back home
Impressed by huge budget for affordable housing in by the American president, the Executive Director, Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN), Mr Festus Adebayo, noted that the amount mentioned above did not include the spending of states on affordable housing
He appealed to the incoming Nigeria’s President to borrow a leaf from the Biden example and increase investments for affordable housing in Nigeria.
He pointed out that whooping $73 billion for affordable housing in America would translate to N53 trillion in Nigeria, about five times the entire Nigeria’s budget.
“Dear stakeholders, $73 billion! That’s about N53 trillion. About five times the entire Nigeria Budget.
“So when we’re crying about housing, this is the problem. Out-going and incoming government must hear this! This is just the budget of their Ministry of Housing; not Ministry of Works and Housing. I mean housing alone.
“This does not include spend by banks and private sector. I don’t think Fashola has N50 billion last year. So that’s less than 0.1per cent for about the same population,” Adebayo said.
Adebayo recalled that the budgetary allocation for the Nigeria’s Family Homes Funds in 2023 was N7billion, wondering the number of housing units to get from the amount.
While pleading with the incoming Nigeria’s President to fund affordable housing massively, he canvassed the immediate dismantling of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.
Besides, he wants the incoming administration to create enabling environment for housing agencies to thrive.
“Create enabling environment: some of the government agencies are hooked due to lack of enabling environment
“We want serious government for affordable housing in Nigeria,” he said.
Another professional,who identified himself simply as HK, on HDAN’s social media platform said the right time for housing stakeholders to move their advocacy from analysing gaps to the next level by influencing decisions that will positively impact housing development, management, and sustainability is now.
He said “I strongly support the idea of lobbying professionals for housing, advancing from advocacy to actions.
“I call for our advocacy admin to immediately set up the Housing Lobbying Committee of seven members representing all the key professional stakeholders in this group to engage with newly elected honorable members and senators who are professionals in housing development to have engagements with them and expose them to most of the initiatives that we have advocated on this platform that will add value to sustainable mass affordable housing development in Nigeria.”
