Confronting the nation’s housing crisis,
Many major cities in Nigeria are today suffocating beneath the weight of their growth. With a population that is swelling every day, cities like Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Abuja are now confronted by major housing deficits — a situation that ought to spur every tier of government into urgent, coordinated action. This is no longer a problem on the horizon. It is upon us.
Rental growth across Lagos, for example, has accelerated sharply, with increases of between 50 and 200 per cent recorded over the past two years alone. A modest apartment that cost ?350,000 annually just four years ago now commands ?1.3 million or more in the same neighbourhood. For many households, rent now consumes more than 50 per cent of monthly income — far exceeding the United Nations affordability benchmark of 30 per cent.
The structural causes are well documented. The price of a 50kg bag of cement rose from approximately ?4,500 in early 2024 to over ?8,500 by early 2025, driven by naira devaluation and import dependency. Land titling and documentation processes remain slow and expensive, adding up to 20 per cent to housing development costs.
Meanwhile, private developers have retreated almost entirely to the luxury segment. Less than five per cent of new units are priced below ?15 million, placing them beyond any reasonable reach of the working majority. The macroeconomic damage compounds daily. As rents in employment-dense areas rise, workers are pushed to the peripheries, commuting time expands, effective labour hours fall, and human capital erodes.
The cities are taxing their own productivity. What must be done? Beyond the standard prescriptions of public-private partnerships and mortgage reform — necessary but insufficient — three additional interventions deserve serious consideration.
First, the states must legislate and enforce a cap on advance rent collection. The Lagos State House of Assembly introduced a Tenancy and Recovery of Premises Bill in 2025 that proposes to tighten rules on rent advances and regulate agent commissions. While the bill should be passed without further delay and enforced with real sanctions, other states should do same.
Second, state governments must incentivise local production of building materials. Import dependency is bleeding developers and, ultimately, tenants. Tax relief and dedicated industrial land allocations for domestic cement, steel and roofing manufacturers would reduce input costs at source and structurally ease the price of construction.
Third, Affordable Housing Levy should be introduced in highbrow areas , a modest charge on luxury real estate transactions, the proceeds of which are ring-fenced exclusively for low-income housing delivery in the heavily populated areas. These are the areas identified as having the highest housing demand but the least new supply. The affluent end of the market should contribute to resolving the crisis its growth has helped deepen.
A mega city should never price out its own workforce.
The post Confronting the nation’s housing crisis appeared first on Vanguard News.
,
Many major cities in Nigeria are today suffocating beneath the weight of their growth. With a population that is swelling every day, cities like Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Abuja are now confronted by major housing deficits — a situation that ought to spur every tier of government into urgent, coordinated action. This is no […]
The post Confronting the nation’s housing crisis appeared first on Vanguard News.
, , Emmanuel Okogba, {authorlink},, , Vanguard News, April 16, 2026, 12:49 am
