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Nigeria housing crisis: Declare emergency on building costs, not rent, urges developer
🇳🇬 Nigeria /Disasters & Emergencies

Nigeria housing crisis: Declare emergency on building costs, not rent, urges developer

From Vanguard · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • A former president of Nigeria's Real Estate Developers Association urges the government to declare an emergency on soaring building costs, not rent prices.
  • Dr. Aliyu Wamakko argues that high construction expenses, including materials and labor, are the root cause of unaffordability and rising rents.
  • He advocates for reducing material costs, improving financing access, and supporting large-scale housing development to address the housing crisis.

Nigeria's housing crisis demands an emergency declaration focused on the escalating cost of construction, not just rising rents, according to Dr. Aliyu Wamakko, former president of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN).

Nigeria’s housing challenge is, first and foremost, a construction cost crisis. High rents are merely the visible symptom of a deeper economic problem. The real drivers are the soaring costs of land acquisition, building materials, labour, infrastructure and financing

— Dr Aliyu WamakkoExplaining the root cause of Nigeria's housing crisis.

Wamakko argues that spiraling building expenses are the primary driver of unaffordable housing and subsequent rent hikes. He points to significant price increases for essential materials like cement, which is nearing 13,000 naira per bag in many areas, alongside steep rises in steel, roofing, and labor costs. "High rents are merely the visible symptom of a deeper economic problem," Wamakko stated, emphasizing that developers cannot invest heavily if returns are minimal.

cement was approaching N13,000 per bag in many parts of the country, while steel, roofing materials and labour had also recorded steep price increases.

— Dr Aliyu WamakkoDetailing the unprecedented increases in construction costs.

He urged the Federal Government to tackle the issue by reducing the cost of building materials, expanding access to affordable long-term financing, strengthening local manufacturing, and implementing policies that encourage large-scale housing development. Wamakko believes these measures will address the fundamental economics of housing production, leading to naturally lower rents and increased supply.

No prudent investor commits hundreds of millions of naira to housing development only to recover a fraction of the investment. Like every other productive sector, real estate is governed by the economics of production. As long as construction costs continue to rise, rental prices cannot realistically remain low

— Dr Aliyu WamakkoExplaining the economic realities faced by real estate developers.

"If there is any emergency to declare, it should be on the escalating cost of building materials and housing production on rent," Wamakko declared. He stressed that attempts to control rent prices without addressing underlying production costs risk discouraging private investment and could worsen the housing deficit. Wamakko positioned real estate developers as essential partners in solving Nigeria's housing shortage, asserting that policies lowering building costs directly translate to lower rental prices.

If there is any emergency to declare, it should be on the escalating cost of building materials and housing production on rent.

— Dr Aliyu WamakkoHis blunt declaration on where the emergency focus should be.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Vanguard in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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