Housing: Estate Practitioner Sues For State Of Emergency

Due to shortage in housing stock in Nigeria, and the growing
demand on housing, an estate surveyor and valuer, Patrick Okwelle has urged
government at all levels, especially the federal government to declare a state
of emergency in the housing sector, so as to tackle the challenges in housing
provision.

He said that the housing industry in Nigeria has not really
received much attention, and that not much achievement have been recorded,
stressing that housing should be done as a service to the people.

Okwelle, who was speaking in an interaction with The Tide in
Port Harcourt, pointed out that there are different sides to housing
development such as the source of funding which could be government, individual
or organisation.

Apart from the funding sources, he said that there is also
the aspect of construction team where professionals like surveyors, builders
among others will be involved, who will make the provision of housing to meet
the international standard.

Mr. Okwelle, who is a member of the Nigeria Institution of
Estate Surveyors and Valuer (NIESV) described housing as the provision of
houses for people to perform their social function, to make them live well with
their families.

He regretted that there is no good housing for the teeming
population, adding that there are 20 million deficient houses across the
country by estimate, and that nobody is doing anything about it.

The estate surveyor posited that it is necessary for
government to declare “state of emergency” in housing to meet the needs of the
individuals, and urged government to focus on how to house the people who
cannot afford to build houses of their own.

Mr. Okwelle, however, welcomed the move by the federal
government through the Ministry of Urban Development to collaborate with other
tiers of government, so as to provide homes for the citizens, adding that such
collaborative moves will be the beginning of the best thing to happen to
housing.

According to him “Building houses for those who need it, and
not those who will buy the houses, is the actual way of helping people. The men
with money would buy them on the cash and carry basis”

The estate professional also pointed out that the type of
houses to be built in the country can be tied to workers salary, where they can
be made to pay back in about 25 to 30 years, pointing out that this system has
been used effectively by the Lagos State Government, and that government can
provide money to support the housing need of the people.

Corlins Walter