Federal Government under the Housing and Urban Development Ministry has targeted to increase availability of affordable housing units across different income segments by an additional 50,000 per year which will create 1,250,000 direct and indirect construction jobs.
The Minister, Arc Ahmed Musa Dangiwa who disclosed this on Friday in abuja while giving his presentation at the Ministerial Press Briefing to celebrate the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s One Year in Office said the Ministry’s vision is to create efficient housing market where all Nigerians have a right to a secure, decent, affordable home as platform for active participation in economic development.
According to him, “The Ministry’s overall strategy, action plan is centered around the three core pillars of the Tinubu Renewed Hope Agenda which includes. Growing the economy lifting 100M Nigerians out of poverty and Creating an enabling environment.
“Our target since we assumed duty is to increase availability of affordable housing units across different income segments by an additional 50,000 per year, Initiate urban & slum upgrading programs aimed at improving living conditions.
Adding that, “with infrastructure, and basic services in informal settlements, Implement policies that promote inclusivity and address the needs of vulnerable and marginalized groups, including persons with disabilities, women, and the elderly”.
He said further that the Ministry also aim to facilitate partnerships between the public and private sectors to increase housing production urban infrastructure development while giving some of the major achievements of the Ministry since on board are as follows:
“RENEWED HOPE CITIES AND ESTATES, we’ve planned, commenced the actualization of the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Development Programme, which President launched earlier this year. Under phase One, we plan to deliver a total of 50,000 housing units across Nigeria”.
Dangiwa added that the Cities will have 1,000 housing units per site in one location in each of the six geo-political zones in the country and FCT, while the Estates will have 500 housing units per site in the remaining thirty (30) States. “We have designed the Renewed Hope Cities as integrated living communities targeting all income brackets.
“They comprise one-, two-, and three- bedroom semi-detached bungalows. To enhance affordability and ease of offtake, we used organic designs where one bedroom can be expanded to two-bedrooms and three-bedrooms as the income of beneficiaries increase over time”.
The Minister made it known that the program aim to address social inequality by providing broad range of affordable ownership options which includes single digit and up to 30-year mortgage loans to be provided by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Rent-to-Own options where beneficiaries can move in
“And pay towards homeownership in monthly, quarterly, or annual instalments and Outright Purchase for high income earners. Government approved the total sum of 126.5bn from the 2023 supplementary and 2024 budget for these projects including slum upgrade and urban renewal”.
He disclosed that nationwide, the Ministry currently have estates in 12 States and Cities. “The estates sited in Katsina, Yobe, Gombe, Abia, Nasarawa, Benue, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Sokoto, Oyo, and Osun. The cities are in Abuja, Yobe, and Lagos. Contractors have been mobilized and have commenced work to deliver a total of 3,500.
“We also signed an MoU with reputable developers to develop 100k housing units nationwide. Work has commenced for 3,112 housing units under this PPP bringing the total number of housing units currently under construction to 6,612.
“We have also made cross subsidy a key part of our efforts to enhance affordability for low-medium income earners to foster integrated living”.
He said, “Under this concept, the housing units built in the Renewed Hope Cities will be sold at commercial rate while a substantial percentage will be sold at concessionary rates to low- and medium-income Nigerians who are members of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress”.
Dangiwa further noted that the Renewed Hope Housing Programme is designed to be a catalyst for economic growth, adding that the construction and development of these new areas will generate employment opportunities, stimulate local businesses, and attract investments.
“The 50,000 units that we plan to deliver under phase 1 will create 1,250,000 direct and indirect construction jobs. This is in addition to value chain effects of purchase, supply of building materials, businesses around the construction sites, etc”, the Minister said.
From the Ministry’s 2024 Approved Budget, Dangiwa said there’s a rolling out of another batch of Renewed Hope Estates comprising 250-housing units each in 6 additional states totalling 1,500 housing units. “Recently, we launched an Online Housing Portal to ease the process of acquiring homes that we are building under the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme”.
Speaking of National Slum Upgrade Program, the Minister said the Ministry plans a total of 26 sites nationwide which includes four (4) sites in each of the six regions of the country totaling twenty-four (24) and two (2) in the FCT. “The key services to be provided at the identified sites will include water supply, solar streetlights, rehabilitation of access roads, construction of drainages and waste management and sanitation services amongst others.
To lower the cost of building materials, the Minister said his ministry is working to boost building materials manufacturing in the country which will ensure economic growth, create jobs, reduce dependency on imports, prompted the inauguration of a Building Materials Manufacturing Team comprising of experts and representatives from relevant government agencies, academia, professional bodies, and industry associations.
He said, “They will conduct a thorough assessment of the current state of the building materials manufacturing sector and produce a strategic plan for reforming the sector for implementation. To increase the stock of housing supply, we also inaugurated a Multi-Agency Project Delivery Team.
“The Team will ensure that all housing agencies work together towards optimizing their strengths to deliver decent and affordable housing to Nigerians. The Team comprises highly qualified and experienced professionals with expertise in housing development, urban planning, infrastructure, finance, and project management.
“We are also working to implement the much-needed reforms that will ensure quick, easy, and efficient access to land. We have inaugurated a land reforms Task Team comprising state governments, traditional rulers, relevant agencies, professional bodies, academia, stakeholders to ensure buy-in and inclusivity.
“With their recommendations we will draft an Executive Bill and proceed to the National Assembly for the amendment of the obsolete Land Use Act 1978 that has hindered the development of the housing sector.
“Part of this will also be the establishment of the National Land Commission to spell out guidelines, regulations for operationalizing the Land Use Act, 1978. These Task Teams have already sent in preliminary reports and will conclude their assignments soon.
“We are committed to implementing these stated reforms and initiatives to change the landscape of the housing sector for good and deliver the renewed hope agenda for housing and urban development.Thank you and may God bless Nigeria and our President”, the Minister concluded.