By Oluwaseun Sonde
Nigerian Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola has said that asking for 2 to 3 year rent in advance from working class people (as distinct from corporate tenants who may prefer to pay in advance) does more harm than good to all concerned and to the economy.
Fashola who disclosed this in his remarks at the National Council of Lands, Housing Urban Development on Thursday in Sokoto on the theme "Housing our people, by all of Government and all our people", challenged and provoked all State Representatives to thoughts and action about how payment of rent can be make easier and comfortable for both tenants and landlords.
He said on Federal Government level, "we have introduced Rent-to-Own into our acquisition/sale model for the disposal of the Houses in the National Housing Programme. I concede that majority of the houses belong to the private sector and they expect legitimate income from rent for the properties.
"Interestingly, rent is a matter over which the Federal Government has no constitutional authority because it is a local matter and rightly so, but if payment can make easier, it would be a most revolutionary intervention when working class people can pay their rent when they receive their salaries", the Minister said.
Fashola also used this platform to call for reform of the process that governs allocation of land and issuance of title documents such as Certificates of Occupancy, noted that not everybody wants a house built by government; as there are those who wish to build by themselves and only seek access to land.
According to him, "While the Federal Government has some land, mainly acquired from the states, the bulk of the work that needs to be done here lies with the State Governments because of their almost total control of land by virtue of the Land Use Act.
"Some have argued that the Land Use Act is the problem about access to land. I beg to differ. If there is a problem, my view is that the problem is not with law but with the administration of the law.
"How much have we automated our land administration processes in order to make them efficient before complaining about that law. States that have made this type of investment will report an improvement in their land administration system".
The Minister revealed that since 2017, when the President delegated his power under the Land Use Act to grant consent and issue certificate of occupancy, to the Minister "we have issued over 5,000 certificates of occupancy and granted 2,738 consent to land transactions.
"These are important documents to facilitate housing delivery and housing finance that we need to pay more attention to, in addition to the process involved in granting of construction permits and approvals", the Minister added.
On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Minister thanked the host, Governor Aminu Tambuwal, the people and Govt of Sokoto State for accepting to host this year’s meeting and for all the provisions they have made in this regard.
Fashola said he was pleased that the National Housing Programme that was initiated by his Ministry at the onset of the Muhammadu Buhari led administration is now delivering on its objective.
"Apart from stimulating the economies of the 34 states and the FCT in the communities where work is being undertaken for construction of houses, by providing work for artisans, builders, engineers, and other skilled persons in the built industry, the construction sites have been and remain centres of supply for building materials and other commodities.
"Many people who hitherto were unemployed have had their dignity restored because they can leave home every day saying to their families, I AM GOING TO WORK. This is the part of the change we promised, and Sokoto state has not been left out", he said.
The Minister who is also pleased to report that the Ministry is now in a season of completion, said many of these houses have been completed and are now being handed over to the beneficiaries who follow the allocation procedure set out in the National Housing Programme web portal (nhp.worksandhousing.gov.ng).
"But the National Housing Programme is only one initiative of the Federal Government to address the housing needs of our people. There are others by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) by way of direct construction in various states, just as the Federal Mortgage Bank has financed the construction of about 6000 housing units at various stages of completion.
"Similarly, the Federal Government has increased its financing intervention support for housing through the Federal Mortgage Bank by increasing the number of mortgages that have been issued and reducing the equity contribution requirement to make it more accessible.
"Of course, I cannot ignore the various interventions by State Governments who have sensibly deployed resources to provide housing in their states and our host, Sokoto state is a good example", he said.
Fashola informed the meeting that State Governments can apply on behalf of their residents or indigenes to fund the acquisition of parts of the National Housing Programmes constructed in the states should they be so desirous.
"Of course, whatever the States and Federal Governments can do by way of housing construction is limited, compared to what the private sector can do. The evidence out there shows very clearly that the bulk of housing in our society and across the world is delivered by the private sector - individuals and corporate.
The Minister hailed the private sector for their participation in Nigeria’s housing sector. "Nationwide on many media platforms, we daily see, hear and read about the development of one estate or the other across Nigeria and this is most welcome and must be encouraged".
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