…Earmark $5million for take off
The Society of Real Estate Developers of Nigeria (SOREDON) is partnering the federal and states governments including the local government to address the challenge of the 17 million housing deficit in Nigeria.
The Chairman of SOREDON, Dr. Micheal Abiodun Adedeji said governments alone could not be held responsible for filling up the huge housing deficit in the country.
“We can’t just blame the governments for the housing deficit in Nigeria because there are people who should tackle this challenge. If we are providing one million housing every year, maybe it should have been addressed all these years.
“To solve this, we need experts and financial competence and this is where SOREDON comes in. We will organise fund from foreign firms to provide funding to tackle perennial housing deficit”, he said.
He explained that SOREDON intends to partner federal government by providing 10,000 housing units annually while it is ready to work with states and local governments by providing 5,000 housing units each annually.
“Together with our foreign partners, we have earmarked $5million for take off and we will request that interested government should provide 10 per cent initial deposit while the 90 per cent will be spread over four years.
“We are capable of providing 500,000 housing units annually and we also guarantee high quality houses,” he said.
According to the chairman, the foriegn partners that would be admitted into the association to deliver quality houses at the price that is affordable and slightly less than the market prevailing price of today include a multinational with enviable track record from Italy and one of the three major engineering companies from Germany..
“One of these companies shall be a general practitioner in civil engineering and construction but a specialist in infrastructural engineering whilst the other company specialises in housing delivery”, he said.
To deliver on its promises, Adedeji said SOREDON would explore research to add value to the practice, ensure quality is guaranteed by curtailing incidence of collapsed buildings through proper supervision.