Housing experts are calling for local councils to play a stronger role in land access
Housing experts have called for local councils to take a greater role in Nigeria’s housing delivery system, arguing that stronger local involvement in land access, basic infrastructure and construction support could help expand affordable housing for low-income households.
/ You Might Also Like /
The proposal was raised at the Urban October Industry Dialogue on Practical Solutions to Housing Affordability, organised by the Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development and the ARUA Centre of Excellence for Urbanisation and Habitable Cities at the University of Lagos.
Abimbola Windapo, a professor of construction management at the University of Cape Town, said housing affordability depended on an interconnected system involving land, building materials, finance, labour, regulation and household income. She argued that local councils could help coordinate some of these elements by improving access to land, infrastructure, local artisans and building-material suppliers.
Her proposal shifts attention from the Federal Government's role in housing policy and large-scale programmes towards the local institutions that influence how residential development takes place within communities.
For Nigeria, the central question is how local governments can move beyond their existing administrative responsibilities to become more effective partners in housing delivery, while working with state authorities, federal institutions, developers and housing finance providers.
Local Governments Could Bridge the Gap Between Housing Policy and Delivery
Decentralising housing delivery could bring planning and implementation closer to the communities where housing demand is growing. Local councils are positioned to understand neighbourhood needs, identify infrastructure gaps and engage local construction businesses and artisans.
Under the approach proposed at the dialogue, local authorities could help facilitate access to land, coordinate basic services and connect developers with local suppliers. Such involvement could support smaller housing schemes and encourage construction that responds to local incomes, materials and living conditions.
However, decentralisation would require clearly defined responsibilities. Housing delivery involves land administration, physical planning, building approvals, infrastructure, finance and construction standards, with different functions distributed across Nigeria's federal, state and local institutions.
Without clear coordination, devolving responsibilities could create overlapping mandates, inconsistent approvals and additional administrative costs rather than faster delivery.
Local governments would therefore need appropriate funding, technical expertise, transparent procedures and accountability mechanisms. They would also need to coordinate with state governments and relevant agencies responsible for land rights, planning approvals and building control.
The objective would be to make local participation more effective without weakening the standards and oversight required for safe, serviced and legally secure housing.
Land and Infrastructure Must Come Before Construction
Windapo's proposal places access to land and basic infrastructure among the conditions for more affordable housing. This is significant because the cost of a home is shaped by more than the materials used to build it.
Developers must also account for land acquisition, title verification, roads, drainage, water, electricity, labour, finance and regulatory approvals. Where infrastructure is absent, developers may have to provide it themselves, adding to project costs and the eventual selling price.
Local councils could contribute by identifying suitable development areas, coordinating community-level infrastructure priorities and supporting the planning of residential expansion. Such work would need to align with state development plans and applicable land and planning laws.
Secure land documentation is equally important. Nnamdi Uba, chief executive of SYSTEMAP, highlighted land ownership disputes and difficulties verifying titles as obstacles to affordable housing and investment.
Unclear ownership can delay projects, increase legal expenses and expose homebuyers to disputes. Better coordination around land records and verification could help reduce these risks, although wider land-administration reforms would also be necessary.
For developers and investors, the value of decentralisation will depend on whether it produces more predictable access to land, clearer approval processes and reliable infrastructure—not simply an additional layer of local administration.
Alternative Building Technologies Could Support Local Delivery
Windapo also advocated wider use of alternative construction systems, including sandbag construction and precast building methods, to help reduce building costs.
She estimated that materials account for between 50 and 60 per cent of total construction costs, identifying reinforcement, cement, granite, crushed stone, bricks and blocks, and concrete among major cost components.
Local authorities could potentially support the adoption of suitable construction methods by connecting housing programmes with local suppliers and skilled artisans. This could help smaller developers and community-based schemes access materials and labour more efficiently.
However, alternative construction systems will not automatically deliver cheaper homes. Limited material availability, unreliable supply chains, gaps in professional knowledge and low public awareness can constrain adoption. New systems must also meet appropriate safety and performance standards and have trained professionals, finance, insurance and user confidence behind them.
Folajomi Ibrahim, a property developer and founder of Cogent Properties Limited, warned that alternative systems could become more expensive if demand rose faster than supply. His concern highlights the need to build domestic production capacity and train workers before expecting new methods to deliver savings at scale.
For local governments, the implication is that construction innovation should form part of a wider delivery strategy, rather than operate as a stand-alone solution.
Employee Housing Could Provide Another Route to Accommodation
Timothy Nubi, director of the ARUA Centre of Excellence for Urbanisation and Habitable Cities at the University of Lagos, also questioned the implementation of the Employee Housing Act, which he said had existed since 1995.
He called for stronger advocacy to ensure compliance with provisions concerning employers with at least 50 employees and the provision of accommodation for their workers.
Employer-linked housing could provide another route to accommodation for workers who struggle with rising rents or cannot qualify for conventional mortgage finance. However, the practical implications depend on the applicable legal provisions, their current status and how compliance is enforced.
The proposal adds another dimension to the wider housing delivery debate: responsibility for expanding access to accommodation does not rest with government housing programmes alone. Employers, developers, financial institutions and other stakeholders may also have roles to play.
Funding and Accountability Will Determine Whether Decentralisation Works
Giving local councils a greater role in housing delivery would have limited impact without funding, technical capacity and measurable responsibilities.
Councils would need to identify what they can realistically deliver, how their activities would be financed and how their performance would be assessed. Potential measures include the time required to process relevant applications, the availability of serviced land, the delivery of basic infrastructure and the number of homes completed at prices suitable for target households.
Coordination with state and federal institutions would also be essential to avoid duplication and ensure that local initiatives fit into wider housing and urban-development plans.
The wider lesson from the dialogue is that housing affordability cannot be addressed through construction technology alone. It requires a delivery system that connects land, infrastructure, finance, building methods and household purchasing power.
For Nigeria, decentralisation offers a potential way to bring housing decisions closer to communities. Its success, however, will depend on whether local authorities receive the resources and clearly defined responsibilities needed to turn that proposal into completed, affordable homes.
READ MORE
