Experts Demand Professional Leadership in Nigeria’s Housing Sector

Experts call for professional housing leadership

Built-environment professionals have called for greater involvement of qualified housing experts in the management and reform of Nigeria’s housing sector, arguing that stronger technical input and long-term planning are needed to address persistent supply and affordability challenges.

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An Abuja-based estate surveyor and valuer, Diran Adetunji, said inadequate professional input and weak long-term planning have contributed to difficulties in estimating housing demand and developing policies that respond to population growth and urbanisation.

Experts Call for Better Housing Planning

Adetunji argued that Nigeria needs more reliable projections of population growth, urban migration and household housing requirements to develop effective short-, medium- and long-term housing strategies.

He cited Abuja as an example of the pressure created when population growth outpaces planning. The rapid expansion of the Federal Capital Territory has increased demand for land, housing and infrastructure, contributing to rising property costs and pressure on available development sites.

For the housing market, accurate demand forecasting is important because it helps governments and developers determine where housing is required, what types of homes are needed and what infrastructure should accompany new communities.

Professional Expertise Across the Housing Value Chain

The expert called for greater responsibility for estate surveyors, valuers and other built-environment professionals in housing policy and programme development.

Estate surveyors and valuers can contribute to assessments of land resources, housing demand, property values and market conditions, while town planners, architects, engineers, builders and mortgage specialists provide expertise across other parts of the development process.

A coordinated approach could help reduce the disconnect between housing policies and the practical requirements of delivering homes and communities.

Housing development involves more than constructing buildings. Land availability, planning approvals, infrastructure, finance, construction costs, property rights and household incomes all influence whether a housing programme can achieve its intended objectives.

Land Titles Remain a Major Constraint

Secure property documentation was identified as another area requiring attention.

Adetunji said difficulties in obtaining secure property titles can undermine confidence in the housing market and make it more difficult for homeowners and developers to access financing.

For developers, delays and uncertainty around land documentation can increase project timelines and costs. For property owners, weak documentation can make it harder to use property as collateral or complete transactions efficiently.

Improving land administration and title registration could therefore have implications for both housing supply and real estate investment.

Infrastructure Must Accompany Housing Development

The experts also highlighted inadequate infrastructure as a major obstacle to housing delivery.

Roads, electricity, water supply and drainage are essential components of functioning residential communities. Where these services are absent, the cost of developing and occupying housing can rise substantially.

Infrastructure gaps can also make peripheral land less attractive for developers, even when land itself is relatively affordable.

Better coordination between housing and infrastructure planning could therefore help government and private developers identify viable locations for new housing schemes while reducing the risk of isolated estates without adequate supporting services.

Mortgage Finance Critical to Homeownership

Access to long-term housing finance was also identified as an important part of the solution.

Many Nigerian households cannot purchase homes through outright payment, making mortgage financing a key mechanism for spreading the cost of homeownership over a longer period.

Adetunji pointed to the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company as an intervention aimed at supporting the availability of long-term mortgage funding. However, he stressed that institutions alone are not sufficient without effective management and broader reforms across the housing finance system.

For the property market, deeper mortgage finance could expand the pool of households able to purchase formally developed homes and give developers greater certainty about effective demand.

Housing Agencies Need Measurable Targets

The call for professional leadership also extends to the management of government housing institutions.

Adetunji argued that housing agencies should be guided by reliable data, professionally managed and assessed against measurable outcomes.

This would shift the focus from announcing housing programmes to tracking whether projects are actually delivering affordable and suitable homes to the intended beneficiaries.

Key measures could include completed units, affordability relative to household incomes, mortgage access, infrastructure delivery, occupancy rates and the geographical distribution of new housing.

Coordinated Planning Could Improve Housing Delivery

Nigeria's housing challenge cuts across several interconnected areas, making coordination between government institutions and private-sector professionals important.

Land administration affects the availability and cost of development sites. Infrastructure determines whether those sites can support functioning communities. Finance influences both construction and household purchasing capacity, while planning determines how residential development integrates with transport, employment and public services.

Greater professional involvement across these areas could help align housing policies with actual market conditions and community needs.

Housing Reform Needs More Than New Projects

The experts' position places emphasis on institutional capacity and planning alongside the construction of new homes.

Increasing housing supply remains important, but the effectiveness of new developments also depends on whether homes are affordable, properly located, adequately serviced and supported by accessible financing.

For Nigeria's housing market, strengthening professional input could therefore complement ongoing government and private-sector housing initiatives by improving the planning, implementation and evaluation of projects.

The longer-term challenge will be ensuring that housing policies are based on reliable data, secure land administration, adequate infrastructure and financing mechanisms that reflect the purchasing power of Nigerian households.

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