The Managing Director, Leisure Court Estate Limited, Mr Segun Abolaji, has said that affordable housing may not be possible in the near future if cement price and land allocation remain unrealistic.
Speaking at a workshop on Promoting Real Estate Investment organised by Leisure Court in Abuja, the managing director called on the Federal Government to subsidise the housing sector and building materials.
According to him, senators and House of Representatives members are considered first in terms of land allocation and the real estate managers have no choice but to buy from them at exorbitant prices.
Besides, the cost of building materials have hit the roof. These, he said, have made it difficult to have affordable housing in Nigeria.
According to Abolaji, if Nigeria must have affordable housing, the first thing that government should do is to make land affordable by regulating the ownership of lands.
“There is no regulation for the real estate in Nigeria unlike in America, where possession of land is regulated.
“It is even difficult for real estate people to apply for land and get direct allocations than the politicians who resell at exorbitant prices to real estate practitioners.
“Another factor why affordable houses cannot be realistic is because of the cost of cement and building materials. Only gypsum is sourced outside the country. Yet the cost of building materials are skyrocketing” he wondered.
He added that the attitude of Nigerians is also part of the problem. People take undue advantage of every situation. They make the business challenging for the practitioners.
Source: The Sun
