Dangiwa unveils social housing funding plan

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, has disclosed that plans are underway to source funds from fuel subsidy removal and profits from the windfall tax to build houses for those without income, low-income earners, homeless, vulnerable, and underprivileged in society.

Dangiwa stated this when the President and Chairman of the Committee on Construction Projects and Infrastructure of the Nigerian Bar Association, Section on Business Law, Andrew Osemedua Edum, paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja recently.

“Plans are underway for National Social Housing Funds to mobilise, also to administer and allocate affordable, decent, and accessible houses for those who don’t have an income, the low-income earners, homeless, vulnerable, and underprivileged in society. The funds will be sourced from the fuel subsidy removal,” Dangiwa said.

He stated that the ministry under his watch was committed to driving historic housing reforms by increasing access to affordable housing for all Nigerians across all groups and income brackets.

Dangiwa added that the reform task teams included the housing institutions reform task team, the land reform task team, and the building materials manufacturing hub, saying that their reports would soon be on stream for implementation to drive the housing sector.

The minister, who revealed that 80 per cent of Nigerians are low-income earners, explained that the four housing sector reform task teams initiated by the ministry upon his assumption of office were meant to position the ministry in better stead to deliver its Presidential mandate of increasing the stock of affordable housing for Nigerians.

He emphasised, “The only way to make a sustainable difference is for all the key players in the housing value chain to be reformed, work optimally, and deliver their mandates.

“It is not enough to build houses but to have a system that will work efficiently and deliver results practically and maximally.

“The ministry is ready to partner with you and all other relevant bodies,” he said.

According to the minister, there is going to be a checklist to monitor and prosecute any building collapse in Nigeria.

Earlier, the President and Chairman of the NBA-SBL Committee, Andrew Osemedua Edum, SAN, said, “We came to seek institutional collaboration with the ministry.”

He invited the minister to attend the second national conference on construction projects and infrastructure as a guest to deliver a keynote address at the conference.

The conference is scheduled to take place from November 27–30, 2024, in Abuja, with the theme “Making Construction Projects and Infrastructure Better in Nigeria”.