Efforts to find a lasting solution to the worrisome issue of inaccurate housing data affecting the housing sector is nearing solution as stakeholders on Tuesday brainstormed on the way forward at a workshop jointly organized by the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company ( NMRC ) and the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) in Abuja.
Speaking exclusively to Africahousingnews.com at the workshop, Chris Hutchinson, Head of Investment & Network@ Reall, a UK based organization said that the organisation is greatly involved in the data workshop to support the Nigeria`s housing sector.
Hutchinson, who is one of the resource persons at the workshop, said that Reall is focusing on investing in affordable housing in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, adding that it has worked with pan organizations in the last five years, trying to build a movement for affordable housing in the country.
He said, “We do that in two ways: we invest in policy changes, we research and impact the way legislation and financial policies are working. We also invest in affordable projects that can be examples for the future in two ways; the fund can be attracting into affordable housing or we can build a project that can make a real difference in building lines.”
He noted that the workshop outcome will help create housing policy changes rich in logical decision and facts, devoid of suspicion.
“So, in order to make policy changes, we have to have actual data, we have to analyze that data, and really focus on what needs to be done. Only by collating that data that we are going to make informed decision that can lead to that policy changes that will improve affordable housing,” he added.
When asked how he viewed the already generated data in Nigeria, he said that the country has done incredibly well, saying “it is for us to build on what they have on ground.”
Also speaking to Africahousingnews.com, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) President Rev. Ugochukwu Chime commended the management of NMRC/CAHF for the workshop that brought together stakeholders in the housing sector in order to tackle the lingering issue of unavailability of accurate housing data in the nation head-on.
Chime who doubles as the Chairman of the National Real Estate Data Collation Program lamented that lack of accurate housing data has made it difficult for real estate investors to determine what the market need is and who can afford the houses they are building.
Chime said, “We are trying to move forward from building and selling to selling and building. We have had a lot of houses in this country abandoned, in Abuja where we are, we have a lot of duplexes, this is as a result of a lack of data, that investors will need to determine what the market need is and who can afford these houses they are building.
“So, the data we are discussing today, is with the view to making sure that policy makers at the Federal Government level, at the state level have all the information they need, investors also have all the information they need and also those who are off takers can have all the information they need. The developers, the mortgage company have all the information they need. We realise that over the years, we have spent huge amount of money operating in solo, different organizations taking a small portion of the big elephant, but now we have been able to work together, 16 organizations and under the auspices of the Nigerian Real Estate Data Collection and Management Programme; it includes the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Central Bank of Nigeria, FMBN, NMRC, REDAN, NBS, NPC, and so many other organizations.”
The REDAN President expressed delight that both private and public sector at the workshop have agreed to work together and get data from all the sources- be it data on land administration, data on business survey, data on housing condition, data on affordability, with a view to educating all the stakeholders in the housing value chain.
He said that accurate housing data will help governments at all level to determine the type of houses people can afford, where they are living presently, the amount of money they are paying and where they move next to.
“Lack of data have led to the number of houses we have unoccupied. We have several housing units abandoned across this country. So when we are talking of data deficit, we are looking at surplus in some housing types.
