Housing: FHA acquires 4,106 hectares in 19 states

BY YINKA KOLAWOLE

In the quest to boost the development of social housing in Nigeria, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) has embarked on the acquisition of lands across the country.

Managing Director, FHA, Mr. Terver Gemade, said the move is in line with the federal government’s drive to tackle the huge deficit of over 16 million housing units in the country. He specifically disclosed that over 4,106 hectares of land have been acquired in 19 states of Nigeria for housing development.

He said the federal government is currently developing a social housing strategy for Nigeria and noted that FHA has keyed into the vision by making plans that will lead to successful execution of social housing schemes in Nigeria.

Gemade said that FHA is currently developing several housing estates in different parts of the country despite the numerous challenges confronting the organisation.

He listed the challenges to include: Land acquisition constraints; inadequate capital resources dearth of long term funds; absence of a developed finance/sustainable mortgage system and; lack of government funding on infrastructure which affects the eventual cost of delivery of houses to the low/Medium income earners.

Others are community/youth restiveness; issue of court litigations; insufficient production and high cost of building materials; insufficient skilled labour and; human resources issues.

The FHA boss said the Authority is set to pursue housing development more vigorously this year.