Professionals in the real estate sector have called on the government to establish a one-stop shop for housing.
The National President of the Nigerian Institute of Building, Professor Yohana Izam, said in an exclusive chat with our correspondent that there was a need for a radical restructuring of the housing sector.
He said, “A one-stop-shop would provide solutions to all challenges facing the industry. Currently, we do not know who is doing what. We have several housing bodies that are numerous and out of unison. We should go back to the days of housing corporations as a one-stop-shop. Under this corporation, there would be departments for all kinds of housing issues including housing finance issues so that the bilateral leakages can robustly be interrogated.
“In addition, departments like the construction, research and development are looking into the development of standards and alternative affordable housing solutions, amongst other departments. This housing corporation has worked in another country. We can also implement it in Nigeria.”
Also, Izam noted that the establishment of housing corporations would aid the proper utilisation of fair reviews and effective delivery of housing.
He added, “This corporation can become a permanent feature of the permanent setting for housing and the implementation of housing policies. This would also aid in long-term housing funding projects with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, among others, bridging the affordability gap.
“The one-stop-shop would also be a place where all the professionals can synergise and proffer solutions to the housing challenges plaguing the country. In my view, we have not run the industry in a way to say that we have a housing industry. We have not warehoused all the human resources in the housing sector and we are too far apart because everybody is on their own and there is no alignment.”
The NIOB president asserted that the millions of housing deficit indicated that there was no coordinated industry to address the gap.
“It is possible for a corporation to establish and implement unified standards, qualities, and policies with the cooperation of architects, engineers, builders, physical planners, and other relevant parties. By working together, they can set a benchmark that can be adopted by the entire country,” Izam argued.
In the same vein, the Executive Secretary of the Association Housing Corporation of Nigeria, Toye Eniola, said a housing corporation was the way forward for the building sector.
He said, “In a housing corporation, you have complete professionals adequately monitored for the roles they take up in building construction without interchanging roles like in the situation of a bricklayer taking the position of an engineer. Most houses built by housing corporations rarely collapse.”
