Dr. Akintola Omigbodun

The price of Portland cement looms large over the delivery of homes in Nigeria. The recent price cut by the dominant cement manufacturer should give some savings to individuals building their own homes but it may not have significant effect on the cost of government projects.

Contractors working on government projects may simply see this as an opportunity to improve on their profit margins. We must therefore examine methods, procedures and strategies for the delivery of affordable homes.

Blocks made from mixtures of sand and Portland cement are used for the construction of the walls in our buildings. The equipment currently used for block making consists of a mould having as its bottom a vibrating plate which supports the block materials.

We should introduce and put into general use in Nigeria equipment that incorporates a hydraulic press in addition to the vibrating bottom plate. Blocks produced with the vibrating plate plus hydraulic press would have a higher density and we could make the blocks dense enough that they would not require to be plastered.

If we examine homes that are offered for sale on private estates, we would find that they are on offer as luxury homes. If we were to strip off the special finishes applied to these homes, we would find that the major items contributing to the offer price are the costs for the provision of utilities – water, power, roads etc and the finance cost of loans obtained from banks for the execution of the project.

To my knowledge, a private developer has paved about 1km length of the public highway such that there is a good, motorable access to its property and thereby giving prospective home buyers a favourable first impression of the property.

The cost of the road will eventually be reflected in the offer price of the homes on this property. Thus we must build upwards if we are to minimize infrastructure costs per housing unit. Also finance costs have to be significantly reduced for private developments if we are to provide housing units in adequate numbers.

The Lagos State Government, LASG, has a Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme, HOMS, which offers housing units for sale. Buyers are expected to pay 30% of the designated price of the housing unit as initial payment and the balance 70% is covered by a mortgage with monthly payments over 10 years at 9.5% interest per annum.

The designated prices start at N4.1million for a 1-bedroom unit. There are two things which the LASG should consider. First, the construction of the housing units should be given to contractors who have the proven ability to complete the housing units within one year.

Second, the prospective buyer should make the down payment of 30% of the designated price before construction starts and the LASG should provide the remaining 70% of the designated price such that the housing units are completed within one year.

The housing units currently on offer under Lagos HOMS are limited in number and hence there is a demand for these units. However, if large numbers of these housing units are provided, we would not find adequate numbers of owner-occupiers to match the available units at current posted prices.

About 13 years ago, there were discussions about providing homes at N0.5milluon per unit. Taking all the price inflation since that time into consideration, we should now be able to set our sights on homes at N2.5million per unit.

If the housing requirements are not appropriately addressed, we would find that the population would move further away to areas on the Lagos to Ibadan expressway, Ikorodu to Itoikin road, Ikorodu to Sagamu road thus compounding our transportation requirements. Next week we shall start with producing competent pupils from our schools.