A stakeholder in the
housing sector and builder, Mr Chuks Nwafor has said that the housing situation in Nigeria, especially in the urban settlements can best be described as “very, very uncomfortable.
Building on this position, Nwafor who is a member of the Nigerian Institute  of Builders (NIOB) pointed out that the challenge in the sector is that the rate of housing production and the rate of population growth are at variance.
According to him, while the population is growing at geometrical rate, housing provision is far below expectation, and as such, the private sector that would have filled the gap, is not producing houses that are within the reach of an average Nigerian.
“The houses obviously are grossly inadequate in all respect, including not being enough for civil servants due to the continuously growing population arising from the influx of Nigerians looking for greener pastures in some major cities like Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja.
“The measures currently put in place are far cry from what is expected.  The major cause of the high cost of accommodation in these cities is therefore attributable to the high deficit in housing stock in these cities, like what we see in Port Harcourt and other popular cities in Nigeria”, he said.
Nwafor however urged developers to always seek for methods to bridge the gap, pointing out that the high demand in housing is very much recorded among the low income earners who are in dire need of affordable homes.
He said investment in affordable or low cost housing by both private and public housing providers will go a long way in addressing this challenge.

Corlins Walter