The federal government has inaugurated a Joint Steering Committee on the National Housing Data Centre to develop and implement a blueprint for ensuring transparency and easy access to housing.

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, inaugurated the centre on Tuesday in Abuja.

Mr Dangiwa said the centre would be useful for policy and decision-making towards affordable housing and the well-being of Nigerians.

He said the measure was imperative to meet Nigerians’ housing needs and unleash the sector’s potential as an enabler of economic growth.

According to him, there are many issues in the sector that need fixing.

“The lack of credible, scientific, and verifiable data on the state of housing in our country stands out as the most pressing and embarrassing.

“This is because, without data, we cannot know the magnitude of the problem we are facing and the resources we need to allocate.

“This is coupled with the challenge of substandard houses that do not meet the conditions of safety, security and other parameters as set out by the UN and the World Health Organisation (WHO),’’ he said.

Mr Dangiwa added that there was no industry-accepted data to guide the government, housing agencies, and financial institutions in planning and outlining strategies to fix Nigeria’s housing problems.

“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, for housing and urban development, fixing Nigeria’s housing data problem is a top priority, ” he said.

The minister said it was as a result of the challenges that they were inaugurating the committee.

“The committee has been established as a strategic partnership among key stakeholders in Nigeria’s housing market.

“The mandate is to develop and implement a blueprint for ensuring transparency and ease of access to housing data in Nigeria.

“It will be essential for policy and decision-making towards affordable housing and the well-being of Nigerians,” he said.

Mr Dangiwa said the key deliverables of the committee would be to develop the framework and modalities for setting up the National Housing Data Centre (NHDC).

He said the committee would cover technical requirements and specifications, including transactional and legal documentation.

“It will also create a framework for data-gathering channels from public and private institutions.

“It will design a framework for distributing housing data to institutional and retail investors in the Nigerian financial market,” he said.

Kehinde Ogundimu, managing director and chief executive officer of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), pledged the commitment of the committee to deliver on the mandate.

(NAN)