Housing sector stakeholders have called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on rising building costs, warning that escalating construction expenses are making homeownership increasingly unaffordable and slowing housing delivery across Nigeria. They argue that tackling the cost of building, rather than regulating rents, is the most sustainable way to address the country’s housing crisis.
Former President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Dr. Aliyu Wamakko, said the sharp increase in the prices of cement, steel, roofing materials, electrical fittings, labour, transportation, and financing has significantly raised the cost of housing development. According to him, developers are finding it increasingly difficult to deliver affordable homes under current market conditions.
Wamakko explained that high rental prices are largely a consequence of expensive housing production rather than the root cause of the housing affordability challenge. He maintained that efforts to control rents without reducing construction costs could discourage investment in the real estate sector and worsen the housing shortage.
He urged the Federal Government to introduce targeted policies aimed at lowering construction costs, including support for local production of building materials, improved access to affordable housing finance, better transport infrastructure, stable energy supply, and incentives for large-scale housing development. He noted that reducing the cost of production would encourage developers to build more homes and improve housing affordability.
Industry stakeholders also emphasised the need for reforms in land administration, mortgage financing, and infrastructure development to stimulate private sector investment in housing. They argued that increasing housing supply through lower development costs would have a greater long-term impact on affordability than direct intervention in rental prices.
Experts believe that coordinated government action to reduce construction costs, strengthen housing finance, and encourage local manufacturing of building materials will be critical to closing Nigeria’s housing deficit, improving access to affordable homes, and supporting sustainable growth in the real estate sector.
