Empower FHA for social housing, stakeholders advise FG
Stakeholders in the housing sector have called on the Federal Government to strengthen the Federal Housing Authority for effective social housing delivery in the country.
Participants at a one-day management retreat of the FHA, who made the call, also urged the government to transform the organisation into a housing regulatory agency for a better control of the sector.
A communiqué issued at the end of the retreat stated that the participants believed that the transformation of the agency would enable it to make better impact as the government’s foremost housing agency.
“Participants noted that the proposed private sector-driven Federal Housing Corporation, which the Bureau of Public Enterprises’ reform document recommended for incorporation as the successor entity to the FHA should inherit the commercial housing component of the authority’s mandate,” the communiqué read in part.
It added that the retreat was declared open by the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi.
Participants, according to the communiqué, were drawn from the FHA’s technical board, interim management team and other stakeholder groups, who recommended that the reform document should be realigned to meet with current realities in the country’s housing sector.
“The government needs to provide adequate financial empowerment for the FHA to enable it deliver on its responsibilities as enunciated in the social housing component of the reform package,” the communiqué stated.
It also noted that the 18-month tenure given to the interim management team was inadequate and called for the upgrade of the current interim structure to a full tenure of four years to enable the management pursue reform processes.
The communiqué read in part, “While noting that the government was not contemplating the privatisation of the FHA, the participants said the restructuring and commercialisation of the agency deserved the support of all stakeholders. The reform of the FHA for effective housing delivery is an imperative action.”
According to the communiqué, participants also commended President Goodluck Jonathan for approving the restructuring and commercialisation of the FHA and also called attention to the misalignment between population growth and the nation’s urban development.
They also called for the prioritisation of the provision of social and affordable housing in the country.
