Over
the years, the delivery of adequate and affordable housing in Nigeria has not
met the desired expectations, resulting in inadequate and decaying housing
stock. Today, Nigeria with a population of about 167 million people is
currently facing a national housing deficit of about 17 million housing units,
and requires a minimum of additional one million housing units per annum to
reduce the national deficit in order to avert a housing crisis be the year
2020, and beyond, through a variety of housing delivery models.
The
involvement of government in the provision of social housing has been minimal
with non-provision of adequate funding and other forms of incentives in support
of housing a significant percentage of the population who ideally should be
beneficiaries of social housing, as it is the practice all over the world.
Housing
professionals insisted however that the country must continue to seek ways of
providing affordable housing, especially to the no-income, low-income,
lower-medium income, and the informal sector worker with a view to averting a
housing crisis in the country, while lamenting the insufficient housing plan by
both the government and the private sector to address the issue.
Lagos
State Commissioner for Housing Mr. Gbolahan Lawal, while stating the need to
bridge the gap within the shortest possible time, explained that one of the
main challenges of mass housing development in this part of the world is issue
of project cost, standard of job delivery and time constraint. “There is the
urgent need for us to find a ways of reducing cost, maintain standard, build
functional and sustainable structures with dignifying aesthetic and finishing,
yet deliver within the shortest possible time”, he said.
Built
environment professionals and stakeholders who have been tinkering with way of
reducing construction costs were unanimous in approving the dry construction
option as the best alternative construction method to bridge the yearning gap
in housing provision at an interactive session organized by Nigerite Limited,
the driving force company in offering cheap, affordable, efficient,
maintenance-free and durable housing model.
Dry
construction uses composite panels or boards installed on metal or timber
structures to build exterior walls, interior walls, ceilings and many other
applications.
It
offers design combined with comprehensive technological and infrastructure
costs. In this construction process, building products and processed materials
are transferred directly to the building site, which means less technical,
logistical and infrastructure costs. The dry construction method would lead to
less energy consumption in buildings.
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