Housing deficit may increase to 25m by end of 2021

If concerted efforts are not urgently put in place to address Nigeria’s housing deficit, which has continued to increase astronomically, it may grow to 25 million by the end of this year.

This was revealed by the chairman, organising committee of the Real Estate & Construction Expo tagged ‘RECON Expo 2021’, Dr. Somadina Anene, at a press conference on the forthcoming exhibition in Abuja on Thursday.

Anene, who is also the vice president of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), noted that the housing deficit, which stood at 17 million about four years ago, has continued to increase due to difficulties like high cost of building materials, cumbersome land administration system, high-interest rate on loans, among others.

He, therefore, said the essence of the exhibition, slated for February 17 – 20, 2021, was to address the various challenges in the real estate and construction sector in order to facilitate economic development.

“How do we revamp the economy? By encouraging more investments in the real estate and construction industry because we know infrastructure is key to economic development in the sense that it will drive economic growth, it will provide more jobs, it will even reduce crime and social vices in any economy. So, that is why we have taken that as the theme for this year.

“This is the 5th edition of this exhibition. The exhibition started in 2016 and we are now witnessing the 5th edition. It is all about promoting economic growth in the country through greater investments in real estate and infrastructure.

“Why are we talking about real estate? It’s because we know that housing is one of the basic needs of man, it’s only next to food and clothing. And why did we chose real estate instead of just saying housing? It’s because we are also concerned about the economic welfare, not just the social welfare, of Nigerians, their economic growth,” Anene explained.

He added that the event targets participants from across the country and is expected to come up with a Real Estate Buyers-Sellers Forum, Networking and Investment Forum, Housing at attractive discounts, Win-A-Home Raffle Draw, exhibition of houses, products and services, among other features and benefits.

Credit: Leadership 03/02/2021