For about
three decades, the housing deficit in the country has caused a lot of
Nigerians untold hardship worsened by the inability of government at all
the levels to match their words with actions...
But the federal and state governments had
in the past muted the idea of making tenants pay one year tenancy to
landlords. This policy, no matter how laudable it is, could not see the
light of day as tenants are still held on the jugular by landlords and
landladies who will not collect anything less that two years rent.
It is therefore surprising that the same
government that cannot enforce one year rent is planning monthly rent
payment. Whether this is feasible, or not will definitely be known with
time as there was no enforcement of the one year rent how much less
monthly payments.
Recall that at the recently concluded
sixth meeting of the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban
Development (NCLHUD), the public was gladdened by the attention given to
monthly payment of rents. The council is the highest gathering of
senior officials from the federal and state governments, as well as
stakeholders and experts in the built industry. At the meeting of
permanent secretaries during the council, senior government officials
from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as well as
those from the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing
(Works/Housing sector), agreed to enact a law that would allow monthly
rental payments across the country.
In a 52-page report on the meeting of
permanent secretaries at the sixth NCLHUD, which was obtained by Daily
Sun from the FMPWH in Abuja, the officials also resolved that the law
would be enforced, as they noted that its enforcement would enhance
access to housing finance.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing,
Babatunde Fashola, recently charged property developers to reduce their
rents and the value of properties in consideration of the economic
hardship across the country.
He advised them to work out ways of
tackling the problem of high house rents and advance payments,
particularly in major cities across the country.
Fashola had said, “let me just ask you a
question since everybody is here. Is there nothing we can do in this
country about this practice of demanding rent for two, three years in
advance from people who get their salaries monthly in arrears? Is there
nothing that can be done? We can’t continue like this.”
The Minister, while buttressing his
argument, insisted that operators in the sector must question the
practice, stressing that the increase in the cost of other commodities
could also be as a result of high rents being charged by developers and
landlords.
“We must first of all question the
practice, look at its strengths and weaknesses and its damage to the
entire economy. For instance, as a Minister, my salary is N900,000; so,
when you ask me to go and bring rent for two years in advance that I
have not earned, and I actually bring it, shouldn’t you start
worrying? So, when you suddenly see that the prices of water, food,
etc., begin to spike, are we really gaining? Because one way or the
other, I’m going to get back what you collected from me. It’s a matter
of conscience. Can you pay for a taxi before you board it?” he queried.
While addressing the gathering, the
permanent secretaries from the relevant agencies in the federal and
state governments resolved at the meeting to produce a law that would
allow the monthly payment of rent.
The FMPWH submitted a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) on the provision of adequate and affordable housing,
the council noted that the “enactment of the law would allow monthly
rental payments and its enforcement would enhance access to housing
finance.”
They also upheld that the rent-to-own
scheme of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), if included in
the housing finance policy, would address the problem of poor access to
housing finance.
They further recommended that all tiers
of government should improve on intervention strategies to provide
affordable housing, as well as provide enabling environment for active
participation of the private sector in housing delivery.
The permanent secretaries urged the
federal and state governments to consider all income groups in their
housing delivery programmes, and to encourage the development of
secondary mortgage market in order to strengthen mortgage refinancing.
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