Reducing Nigeria's Housing Deficit With Housing As A Social Infrastructure

INTRODUCTION

During the last Housing Summit, held in Abuja on Monday, 27^th June 2016, the Hon. Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN, in his Keynote Address, unveiled the Fed Govt. Plan of Actions for the Housing Sector. The Hon. Minister disclosed a Budget of about N36billion, an amount he admitted was inadequate. He hinted that the implementation process is being reviewed, and that he’s working with his Finance counterpart on “access to capital for housing construction and supply, and also the financing of acquisition”. Specifically, he noted that the Ministry is reviewing “some of our old methods for implementing the National Housing Policy” adding, “while we may retain the initiatives with modifications, we must develop something new and different that is useful for reducing our housing deficit.” 

Nothing could be more factual. We can’t continue attempting to solve the same old problem, the same old way.

That “…something new and different…” could be adopting a different Model of Housing Subsidy, with the potential of creating more housing units. This Model seeks to justify Housing as a Social Infrastructure and treat Govt. investment in Housing (in this case N36billion) as counterpart funding to kick-start the process, with no Monetary Return on Investment (M-RoI). It hypothesizes that for every Govt. investment, and depending on the allowed subsidy, there is a projected increase of between 100%-150% of the total units built.

HOUSING

Housing is any form of shelter that provides adequate protection against danger, and weather conditions, as well as conveniences necessary for human comfort. Housing is not a product but a process that relates to household growth and size. It is a process with four stages of development. Each stage corresponds with household development or growth.(Read more here )

Nothing is more important than Shelter. Yes! Ever heard of “shelter strike”? Never! So how then is shelter said to be the 2^nd most important basic needs of man? Wrong placement! Maybe that is the reason it is given little or no attention by national governments. When shelter is given its rightful place as a have-or-die for man, then more attention shall be given to it; and its impact on man and nations’ economy would be appreciated.

Nigeria has a conflicting Housing Deficit of between 17million and 22million Units of various types, and requires over N60trillion ($240billion Dollars) to tackle the challenge. Fast forward, other African, Asian, European and American countries are facing similar challenges of various magnitudes, and adopting different approaches to tackle the challenge of Housing Deficit. The challenge is enormous, and it is seriously impacting negatively on nations’ economy

Various factors are compounding the Nigeria Housing challenge. Among which are: lack of adequate funding for increase housing production; difficulties accessing funds by prospective beneficiaries; access to land; high cost of construction; regulatory bottlenecks; and high cost of obtaining building permits, etc.

With inadequate shelter, comes associated environmental, health and social issues. Slums and squatter settlements are rampant in urban centres around the world; rapid spread of communicable diseases; mental health problems; rapes and the likes have all been linked to lack of adequate shelter.

Different Nations adopt different approaches towards ameliorating their Housing Deficits. Past Nigerian Governments seem to have been very much “at home” with Housing Subsidy and Mortgage Scheme.  But so far, the various subsidized housing projects have not yielded much impact towards increasing housing stock in the country.  This is not to say that Housing Subsidy is ineffective. In fact, it has been discovered that a well-designed and effectively implemented Subsidy Model integrated with Mortgage Scheme may well be the panacea for reducing Housing Deficit.

WHY HOUSING AS A SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE?

Housing has all long been treated as economic infrastructure. When talking about economic infrastructure, references are on those infrastructures which are “users-pay” or demand-based revenue yielding. Such includes: Tolled-roads, airports, seaports, stadia, etc. Economic infrastructures look up to return on investment or cash profits.

Social infrastructure, on one hand, is characterized as components that encourage people to form connections in their neighborhoods and/or greater communities. Such components include friendly small businesses, community gathering places, community events and, both organized and informal activities; events and activities that encourage and strengthen social solidarity among residents. The lack of these social bonds between residents decreases social support opportunities and leads to community members isolating themselves; a common factor in our “modern” housing estates, where neighbours hardly know themselves.

On the other hand, social infrastructure is part of the infrastructural sector and typically includes assets that accommodate social service. These include investment in law and order, education, healthcare, culture, recreation, communications infrastructure, civic and utilities facilities. Investments in these areas, lookup to their social impacts, rather than financial returns.

Housing and housing quality are important determinants of adults’ and children’s health.  Housing quality, or lack of Housing, has been shown to be associated with a wide range of health factors.  These include:

Infectious disease: Tuberculosis and respiratory infections are common in overcrowded living environments.

Injuries: Substandard housing has been associated with increased risk of injuries, such as falls and burns

Chronic illness:  Indoor air quality and exposure to dampness are contributors to asthma and other allergic reactions, particularly among children. 

Other conditions associated with Deficit Housing and Non-Decent Housing includes:

Cardiovascular diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, depression and anxiety, nausea and diarrhea, hypothermia, and food poisoning.

The built environment or neighborhood around the residential environment affects health through opportunities for physical activity and access to nutritious foods.  Furthermore, housing and neighborhood conditions affect mental health.

Poor housing condition has been found to have a detrimental impact on health, and is estimated to cost the UK National Health Service (NHS), at least #1.5trillion annually. Equating this with Nigeria, the cost would be alarming; and at the current CBN rate of N402 to #1, #1.5trillion would build about 120,000 Housing Units (@ N5,000,000/unit) annually. This is quite a significant contribution considering this year’s Housing Budget.

Safe and affordable Housing for low/medium income earners is a valuable strategy to support and improve well-being. It is not just shelter but also an investment in good health.

There is need for synergy between Healthcare and Housing Practitioners in Nigeria if the national housing challenge is to be effectively addressed. It is time we look more at preventive, rather than curative health services, and pursue same more vigorously.

About the Author:

Ekpo B. is an architect with a passion in Social Housing. He was the Pioneer Project Manager of the defunct Akwa Ibom Property Development Authority (now APICO). He wrote the Executive Council MEMO that established the Organization as the first Parastatal to be established by the Akwa Ibom State Government in 1988. He was also instrumental to the establishment of Akwa Savings And Loans Ltd.

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