Private sector, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) at all levels of government have been called upon to collaborate with the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) to meet housing needs of citizens.
Besides, President of NIOB, Mr. Kenneth Nduka, called on governments at all levels to respect and enforce the unique roles of builders in all aspects of building project delivery initiatives.
Speaking during NIOB’s 48th Builders’ Conference and Annual General Meeting in Abuja, Nduka said that if the built environment must be served with functional, affordable and safe housing stock, the nation must not compromise the future environment with wrong activities of quacks in the housing sector.
According to him, the multidimensional nature, seen and unseen linkages that determine the outcome of any real estate investment were yet to be fully understood by stakeholders.
Also, President of Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) Ugochukwu Chime stated that development of the housing sector has become imperative in stimulating economic growth and creating jobs in any economy.He said that the sector has huge potential to positively transform Nigeria’s socio-economic landscape and create jobs.
Chime said that the housing and construction sector in Nigeria accounted for only three per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He also expressed regret that the country has an extremely low ratio of credit to GDP, adding that of the little credit provided by banks, only a fraction of it was for mortgages.
Chime noted that despite the size of the nation’s economy, mortgage debt to GDP was only 0.5 per cent, adding that with approximately 17 million housing deficit in the economy, focus on addressing the shortfall would catalyze the productive sectors.
He said: “This is imperative as the market is available, only effective demand needs to be enhanced. Globally, there is a strong consensus that the development of the housing sector is important for stimulating economic growth and job creation in any economy.”
He further noted that various efforts over the decades to stem the rising deficit have met with very limited success while several reasons have been adduced for this.
These, he listed, as challenges in finance of land administration problems, dearth of needed manpower, and absence of regulatory environment among others.
According to the REDAN boss, many stakeholders have misunderstood their roles, thus ensuring overlaps and gaps in the value chain. He explained that over the years paradigm shift in housing delivery approach from individual efforts and the use of mortgage loans from financiers to meet shelter needs is the major culprit.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kenneth Nduka has called on the built environment professionals and regulatory bodies to ensure provision of sustainable and collapse-free buildings to the public.
According to him, the operational space of the building industry must be allowed to experience proper interpretation and translation of design and shop drawings effective material scheduling and procurement.
He said: “The industry must be allowed for efficient construction risks mitigation and management, responsive work programming and time scheduling, buildability and maintainability assessment that will reconcile the construction methods and guarantee economic integration.”