Home Ownership: Estate Valuer Scores Nigeria Low

An Estate Surveyor
and Valuer in Port Harcourt, Mr. Sampson Chuku, has said that Nigeria’s home ownership rate is very low when compared to the housing situation in other African countries and the developed nations.
Chuku, who was speaking while interacting with The Tide in Port Harcourt at the weekend stated that by some accounts, Nigeria’s home ownership, currently put at 25 per cent, is very low when compared with the housing situation in some developing and developed countries.
According to him, available statistics show that Benin Republic has home ownership rate of 63 per cent, and Kenya has 73 per cent, while Libya has 41 per cent home ownership rate.
Other countries he mentioned in the statistics include Singapore which he said has 90 per cent home ownership rate, South Africa has 56 per cent rate while the United States has 70 per cent home ownership rate.
By these statistics, the Estate Valuer posited that the overall population of those who own homes or are living in their own houses in Nigeria is very low, as compared to others, even among African nations.
He said “ President Goodluck Jonathan’s position that the country needed a minimum of N56 trillion to be able to bridge a deficit of 17 million housing units in Nigeria is a clear indication that Nigeria has a long way to go.”
The housing expert posited that the shortfall, which did not cover the cost of providing infrastructure, translated to an average cost of N3.5 million per housing unit.
According to him, it will take the political will of government to ensure that this challenge is adequately addressed in the near future.

Corlins Walter