AHS sees hope, bets on Fashola’s low income housing initiative
The Federal Government’s initiative on affordable housing as announced by Babatunde Fashola, the Minister for Power, Works and Housing, has continued to enjoy warm reception by housing sector stakeholders who say there is hope in the initiative which targets low income earners and the vulnerable in the society.
On account of history and the minister’s antecedent as governor of Lagos State where he was not known to be well disposed to low income housing, many Nigerians don’t believe that Fashola would pursue an initiative that will provide housing for low income earners.
But the minister assured, at the unveiling of his ministry’s roadmap on housing that, though over the years Nigeria had embarked on series of housing initiatives and not one of them had been pursued with consistency or any measurable sustainability, these unsustainable efforts must change and give way to a sustainable and well thought out initiative.
“We are convinced that this change must be led by government and subsequently driven by the private sector”, he said, citing the public housing initiative of the United Kingdom which was started by government in 1918 and, as of 2014, 64.8 percent of UK’s 53 million people were home owners.
The Singaporean initiative, he added, was started by government in 1960 and has provided housing for 80 percent of its three million people, pointing out that what was common to both models was that there was a uniformity of design and a common target to house working class people.
Festus Adebayo, the Chief Executive Officer of Fesadeb Communications, believes Fashola, insisting that the minister is, indeed, working hard to make home ownership easy for those in the lower rung of the social ladder.
Adebayo, whose company organizes the annual Abuja Housing Show (AHS), assured in a statement obtained by BusinessDay at the weekend that Fashola means well, referring to his presentation on the housing initiative at the National Assembly as proof that he is working hard on affordable housing.
“In a long interactive session with members of the House of Representatives Committee on Housing, Fashola unveiled plans for low cost housing across Nigeria and we at Fesadeb will ensure that this presentation is deliberated upon in the forthcoming Abuja Housing Show”, Adebayo assured.
The 10th edition of AHS already slated for next month, he said, would be considering, among others, such posers as “do we have a financing problem or is the problem really that we are not able to access financing sources that are available; how can we encourage more private investment and participation in affordable housing; how can we increase mortgage financing, both construction loans and long-term mortgage financing; what incentives do estate developers need to develop affordable homes for low income earners?
The housing show which already has 10 countries and 200 indigenous companies that have confirmed their participation, expects participants from Turkey, China, Netherlands, UK, USA, Ghana, South Africa, Ireland, Kenya and Brazil. Fashola will be the chief host of the show.
Confirmed speakers include Hakeem Ogunniran, the MD of UPDC; Loren Zanin, CEO at Lafarge; Robert Plattner, the MD of Hydraform from South Africa; Alejandro Pons, the MD of Global Green Built from Spain, Mustapha Njie, MD/CEO of TAF Homes Africa; Mustapha Zubairu, FUT Minna, Charles Inyangete, the MD of Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC).