By YINKA KOLAWOLE

A university don has said that the design of the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme is not suited to cater for the housing need of low-income earners in Nigeria.

Dr. Wole Alagbe of the Department of Architecture, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, stated this while reviewing the problems of non-affordability associated with various government housing schemes in the country, as part of a paper he presented on ‘Exploring Indigenous Strategies for Affordable Housing Delivery for the Urban Poor’. According to him, “NHF eligibility technically excludes the low-income group by requesting evidence of possession of valid title to land (Certificate of Occupancy) and approved building plans” at a Housing Exhibition and Conference held earlier in the year in Abuja.

Alagbe noted for instance that under the scheme, loan facility is granted on the basis of the contributor’s ability to pay off with 30 percent of his/her average monthly income and repayment plan of a maximum 30 years tenor at 6 percent interest rate per annum. A contributor is also expected to make equity contribution or personal stake of 30 percent, 20 percent or 10 percent depending on the loan amount applied for, before he/she can qualify for loan under the NHF scheme, noting that all the pre-conditions are big impediments towards realisation of ‘housing for all’, particularly for the low-income group. He conceded that over time, the Nigerian government has initiated ideas aimed at tackling the housing issues, but noted that there has been more failures than success stories.

The university don also pointed out that Private Public Partnerships (PPPs) on housing is profit oriented, and therefore incapable of solving the housing needs of low-income earners. “The products of PPPs are not for the low-income earner and therefore not affordable to this group of people. Survey shows that the term of payment is unfriendly or almost impossible to meet by low-income group. Under the PPP arrangement, a typical two-bedroom house will cost minimum of N3.5m depending on the location. Therefore, it is inherent that we seek for indigenous strategies for delivering affordable housing to the 70 percent of Nigerians who live below the poverty line ($1 per day),” he stated.

According to him, affordability refers to the supply and availability of housing that is both within the financial reach of households and matches their aspirations.

“Affordable housing is concerned with securing some given standards of housing or different standards at a price or rent which does not impose an unreasonable burden on the household incomes.