FG Pegs One Bedroom Apartment At N7.3m, Equivalent Of 20 Years Salary Of Nigerians On Minimum Wage

The Federal Government has launched a portal for its 5,000 housing units which are under different phases of completion.

The Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashiola, said Nigerians can now apply for houses built under the current Federal Government’s National Housing Programme (NHP) in 34 states of the country.

This was following the formal launch of the portal, ‘https://nhp.worksandhousing.gov.ng,’ which took place at the Conference Room of the Ministry in Mabushi, Abuja on Friday.

Fashola said, “We converge here just to introduce a portal on which the National Housing Programme pilot will be offered for sale to the public.  What that means is that we will not be selling printed forms, the forms are online and this allows for more openness, limits human intervention and any disposition to any underhand practice”.  

Nigeria has a housing deficit of over 21 million units and  over N21trn will be required to finance the deficit.

But the debate by experts is that the country needs housing units that average Nigerians can afford.

The National Minimum Wage signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 was N30,0000 per month.

The building project which was undertaken by the Ministry of Works is under the National Housing Programme programme and is inline with the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria (SGD), the government had claimed.

The seventeen SDGs have an urban component, including targets such as affordable housing.

Goal eleven of the SDG targets to ensure that by 2030, the government will provide access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.

Investigation on the newly launched portal by the ministry reveals that the cheapest building available on the portal is N7,222,404 for a one bedroom flat.

The price of the buildings range from N7,222,404, N9,268,752, N13,241,074 and N16,491,155.8 across the country.

States like Gombe, Katsina ( Gidan kwa-kwa, Off New Ring road, Katsina); Niger ( 3 Arms Zone, Eastern Bye Pass, Minna, Niger); Taraba   ( Wukari-Jalingo Road, Jalingo, Taraba);  Zamfara (Kuraja-Damba, Off Gusau-Zaria Road, Gusau, Zamfara); Yobe ( Old Damaturu-Maiduguri Road, Damaturu, Yobe)  and Adamawa (Sangere Village, along Numan-Jimetta Road, Yola, Adamawa) among others have cost as high as N16,491,155.8.

Some of these states are heavily indebted and have large numbers of the poor.

With the current minimum wage of N30,00, if a Nigerian wants to purchase any of the buildings, the buyer has to make a down payment of 30 per cent of the original cost of the building.

For instance, if the intended buyer chooses to purchase the N16.49m valued three bedroom flat, the buyer will make a down payment of N4.94m which is an equivalent of 13 years and 7 months salary of a minimum wage earner.

This is based on the mortgage calculator for the housing units provided by the ministry on the portal.

If the buyer is settling for the cheapest units, which is N7.22m one bedroom flat, a down payment of N2,166,721.19 is expected to be paid.

The N2.16m down payment is an equivalent of over 6 years salary of a minimum wage earner, while outright purchase of the N7.22m one bedroom apartment will require 20 years salary of the civil servants on N30,000 minimum wage.