Food, clothing and shelter, according to Abraham Maslow, are the basic needs of man. Maslow was right. He will always be right. I want to add that housing ranks first among the three basic needs. It is an incontrovertible fact that one of the best indicators of a person’s standard of living and his/her place in the society is housing and very crucial to his/her welfare is its availability or otherwise.
Similarly, the performance of the housing sector is one of the yardsticks by which the health of a nation is measured is. Access to adequate and affordable housing was listed as a core human right by the United Nations (UN), General Assembly Article 25, 1948 and the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, yet access to decent and affordable housing remains a critical contemporary challenge in many countries of the world, with the majority of urban residents finding it increasingly difficult to obtain and retain adequate, decent and affordable housing.
Even in the developed countries of Europe and America where challenges to decent, sustainable, inclusive and affordable housing has been substantially overcome, housing is still, and increasingly becoming a concern for the low-income and middle-income earners. A recent Eurocities report on housing indicates that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, new groups of Europeans are tending towards social exclusion and poverty due to lack of access to affordable and social housing.
With the aim of promoting an integrated society, post-apartheid South Africa initiated the Breaking New Ground (BNG) strategy to develop quality housing units for different income groups, to be acquired by rental or outright purchase through bank loans.
The initiative which was driven with innovations in building materials did not only revolutionised home building, but also allowed homes to be constructed in a faster, cheaper and more environmentally friendly manner and ensured the availability of more housing with social amenities such as schools, clinics, public transport etc.
For the majority of Nigerians, most especially those in the middle and lower ends, access to affordable housing remains a mirage, and might remain so for a long time unless the situation is urgently and frontally addressed.
Over the years, successive administrations in the country had tinkered with policies in a bid to achieve mass housing objective, but due to lack of reasonable commitment to it, achieving the goal has remained elusive.
At a point, concerned experts called for declaration of state of emergency in the housing sector to be followed by massive investment in infrastructure and housing, saying innovative thinking and action could bring about better outcomes that will enhance housing delivery process in the country.
In addressing the escalating housing challenge, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) of which I am a member recently made a call to the government to include in its agenda for housing delivery needs assessment derived from an organised housing survey across the nation to determine the housing needs of Nigerians in various states and regions and to stop the politics of housing in view of the vital role of housing to healthy living.
While calling on the government to stop the ad hoc and arbitrary approaches to solving housing problems as this have not helped us as a nation, the institution suggested re-organisation of housing management with proper institutional framework across all levels of government and the total overhaul of the mortgage system which should be driven by the private sector with full government support in terms of policy and regulatory functions.The professional organisation in addition called for accelerated land titling programme for all the states, say this will ensure availability of plots with value for the housing sector, urging the government to pay special attention to the provision of social housing for the less privileged and vulnerable people in all the states of the nation.
There are numerous opportunities within the housing sector. What is required more than ever before is a clear policy direction, initiatives and strategy which the private sector and experts in the housing industry would leverage on if the government is genuinely desirous of providing affordable housing for Nigerians.
With an estimated housing deficit of about 20 million units, and about N59.5 trillion required to bridge the deficit, in my candid opinion, it is time to look into available alternatives to housing provision and urgently, otherwise many Nigerians, especially those in the lower stratum may never be able to afford housing.
It is up to the government to accelerate the delivery of housing as a key strategy for poverty alleviation and utilis e provision of housing as a major job creation strategy. That is an option.
And in pursuingthis option, especially against the background of the high and rising cost of building materials and the associated hindrances of poor mortgage system, and in a situation where demand rate for housing is geometric compared to arithmetic rate of housing provision, I suggest the government consider the dry construction alternative to mass housing provision in Nigeria.
What we need at the moment is a more practical method of achieving mass housing provision. Dry construction offers an excellent opportunity to government and the primary mortgage institutions, property developers and stakeholders to guarantee speedy provision of mass and affordable housing in Nigeria.
Dry construction building technology offers a viable alternative to the traditional and more expensive wet construction method with blocks, bricks and concrete. It is a potential way of increasing cost efficiency, deliverability and quality of low income housing.
A specialist method of interior construction, dry constructions uses plywood and gypsum board in place of concrete and blocks. It is industrially prefabricated systems of construction which consists of two basic construction elements; lining board and load-bearing construction and together, they form a functional, static unit. Dry construction also offers moisture resistance, ease of installation and reduction in construction time, fire safety, thermal and sound insulation.
Dry construction is a much viable solution with lower self-weight, faster and better technical finishes. Most Nigerians who don’t have access to decent housing due to the cost of building materials would readily embrace dry construction which is far less expensive. Let us give it a trial.
Source: thenationonlineng
