Many Nigerians are Seeing their Dream of Owning a Home Disappear

The World Bank says Nigeria needs hundreds of billions of dollars to bridge its housing deficit. Home ownership is at a mere 25 percent, and Nigerians are finding it harder to buy as incomes fall along with the price of oil, the country’s main earner. Nigerian houses are not affordable. For the poor, it means either not having a home or staying in bad living conditions. And for the middle class, it’s a housing market that lacks the right type of houses, especially in the desired location, as well as payment plans that don’t work for most.  Nigeria has a housing deficit of over 17 million homes. Four years ago, the World Bank advised that for Nigeria to avert a housing crisis by 2020, 720,000 houses were needed per year. The most ambitious plan of the government can be found in the now-expired Economic Recovery Growth Plan 2017-2020. The government proposed the Family Homes Fund to build 2 million housing units by 2020.  According to the World Bank, early stages showed that less than 10,000 homes were planned for completion for the start of 2019. Late last year, a new board was inaugurated, and the plan is now to build 500,000 homes by 2024.

SOURCE: STEARS BUSINESS