By Kingsley Adegboye

As provision of housing continues to remain a major challenge to Nigeria despite efforts by stakeholders in the housing sub-sector .

A new player in the industry, REFin Homes, whose mission is ‘Creating a culture of seamless home ownership, and building communities,’ says it has come to revolutionalise the real estate sector with its ‘Alternative Home Solutions.’

In this interview with Vanguard Homes & Property, the Deputy Managing Director, and Co-founder, REFin Homes Limited, Mr. Kazeem Owolabi,who acknowledged the huge deficit in housing provision and  challenges facing the sub-sector, believes the kind of revolution his firm has brought will bridge the widening gap in housing in Nigeria. Excerpts:

You are promoting a revolution in real estate sector as alternative solutions to housing provision in Nigeria, can you explain how this culture of revolution can address home ownership challenge in the country?

Yes, to start with, we  are a real estate development company. We provide an all-inclusive alternative housing solutions with structured payment plans tailored to meet the needs of every Nigerian.

We  are a real estate, investment  and development company aimed at providing activities in the areas we choose to build. We provide bespoke housing solutions to meet your needs. We provide tailor made solutions and stimulate the economy. We are committed to being a leading influence in the real estate sector of the economy and changing the outlook of the housing industry in Nigeria.

We are affordable and we have a bouquet of products to suite whatever real estate needs you have. We aim to provide value-for-money products and services. We build to specification and we are known as the community builders. Our core business revolves around providing affordable housing without compromising on quality. At REFin Homes, there is home for everyone based on your capacity and not just privileged few.

The company was established to bridge the housing gap in Nigeria. REFin Homes’ key focus is   providing affordable housing   for low-middle income   earners without compromising quality. REFin   Homes Limited seeks a   strategic   positioning as an influential real estate institution that solves problems in provision of affordable housing through innovation.

It is set up to   provide simple and   functional housing stock and flexible/customised payment options in the large and middle markets. We are known for building communities. Presently, we have three ongoing projects in Lagos. Two are located along Lekki-Epe Expressway while one is located in Yaba area of Lagos. Subscribers are welcome to any of our sites.

Statistics show there’s a housing shortage in Lagos. What needs to be done to   turn this around?

Indeed, we are  aware of the huge housing deficit not only in Lagos but in Nigeria as a whole. The pressure is more in Lagos due to the large scale rural-urban migration. With Lagos having an estimated population of 21 million, there is a housing deficit estimated at over three million units.

The immediate response would be to look to government to assist in this regard especially if you look at a country like Singapore where home ownership is around 90 per cent, due largely to government support and involvement in that sector. We, however, cannot wait on the government alone to sort this out. A lot of private sector involvement is required. A lot of construction activities appear to be going on in Lagos, but they have not addressed the problem due to the following reasons.

The first is from the supply side. High cost of building materials and land which is passed on to the end user. There is also the issue of developers focusing on the top tier of the market, there is the issue of poorly finished houses, lack of knowledge in project funding structure leading to delays and cost overrun and technical know-how in construction.

From the demand side, high cost of acquisition, lack of access to finance (mortgages), only 40 per cent of the adult population in Nigeria are financially included. Where there is access to finance, the terms are prohibitive (high interest rate and short tenors). Inadequate knowledge of alternative home solutions to home acquisition.

To address the issues enunciated above in the medium to long-term, the following need to be done:

Provision of adequate infrastructure to make local manufacturers’ building materials more competitive in terms of quality and pricing, Land Use Act  needs to be repealed to unravel the bottlenecks associated with it.

There should be access to mortgages at affordable rates, construction of quality affordable housing with flexible payment terms should be promoted, there should be capacity building for potential home owners and builders and lastly, government should fast track the process of accessing National Housing Fund, NHF loans.

What do you think should be the role of government in housing provision?

Primarily, the role of government in housing provision is to formulate friendly policies that will make housing affordable in Nigeria. For instance, provision of infrastructure such as network of roads, electricity, sewage treatment plants, pipe-borne water and others, easy access to mortgage loans at reasonable rates, documentation of title deeds without difficulty and delay, will make housing delivery cheap.

Why housing is expensive is because so many hidden costs are built into the actual cost of construction, which the buyers pay for at the delivery stage. But with favourable policies on housing delivery, the cost of delivering housing units will be drastically reduced and home buyers will pay less.

The general belief is that only the wealthy can afford a home, how true is it?

To most people, owning a home is seen as a daunting task due to the associated cost.

Most people get their homes through incremental building. They acquire land and build at their pace. Building like this on the average takes five to seven years. The good news, however, is that with a home acquisition plan followed through with discipline, it is possible for anyone with a regular income to own a home. At REFin Homes, we can work with you to make owning your home a reality by building to your specification and capacity.

What financing options are available for first-time home buyers?

We have alternative home ownership solutions with structured payment plans targeted at meeting the needs of every individual who desires to own a home within the shortest possible time. We make it less burdensome by combining it with the National Housing Fund loan which we would help facilitate.

A new home is quite expensive for many Nigerians. Isn’t renting a home more economical?

To rent or not to rent, that is the question. People opt for renting because of the general belief that buying or building a house is expensive and is something to be pursued towards retirement. There are numerous benefits attached to owning your own home, if you own more than one home for example, you can put the other(s) up for rent (monthly rent) and enhance your cash flow. If you own a home and you live in it, you can release equity and invest in building or buying more real estate. When you rent, you fund your landlord’s dream when you can make yours a reality.

What you would like your target market to know about your alternative home ownership solutions?

We are a reliable company with capacity to deliver on our promise. We are here to revolutionalise real estate business in Nigeria. The reason the sector has remained stagnant is because operators are not doing things differently. But we are here and ready to do it differently to achieve the desired result.

With   a   team   of   well-seasoned   architects,   quantity surveyors,   engineers, builders, project managers, foremen and artisans, we have what it takes to quickly assess a project and determine its viability and development. We use this team of professionals to train our artisans in our Artisans Academy to ensure quality delivery of our homes.