The House Committee on Housing and Habitat said increasing the budgetary allocation of the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to N500 billion would reduce the housing deficit in Nigeria.

The chairman of the committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, said this during the committee’s oversight function to the Ministry on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr Jibrin said the increased budget would enable the ministry to deliver more houses to Nigerians.

“I believe that I have the total support of my committee members for us to be able to increase their budgetary allocation to N500 billion. Let me also say that the increment is in line with the housing policy thrust of the present administration of renewed hope agenda.

“When you have a ministry that is targeting, in the immediate, some 10,000 to 20,000 housing units per year and wants to move it up to about 50,000 units, you will know even without being told what the overhead will cost,” he said.

Mr Jibrin pledged the support of the legislative arm to the housing ministry in getting certain exemptions, residential waivers and some of the regulatory issues that might hinder the delivery of houses.

He said the committee was seriously concerned about building collapse cases in Nigeria due to a lack of compliance with or failure to enforce those regulations.

He tasked the ministry to develop measures to monitor regulatory compliance and enforcement in the housing sector.

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, said the ministry has a dual challenge of inadequate housing supply and sub-standard houses.

Mr Dangiwa said addressing the housing challenge in Nigeria would involve a combination of urban renewal, slum upgrades, and the building of new houses.

He listed some of the challenges in the housing sector including the review of the Land Use Act, unpaid liabilities of over N300 billion, inadequate budgetary allocation and shortage of manpower.

According to him, Nigeria requires about 550,000 units of houses over the next ten years to meet the housing deficit, which would gulp about N5.5 trillion per annum.

Mr Dangiwa said that to enable the ministry and the current government to deliver on housing, there was a need to increase the housing budget to N500 billion annually.

(NAN)