Following concerns over the affordability of homes under the Renewed Hope Housing Programme, the Federal Government has clarified that not all of its housing projects are designed as subsidised schemes. The government explained that certain developments, including the Karasana estate in Abuja, are being financed through public-private partnerships (PPPs).
The clarification follows reports that the cost of several housing units, particularly at the Renewed Hope City in Karasana, Abuja, appeared beyond the reach of many Nigerian workers despite the programme’s objective of expanding homeownership.
Responding to questions on the issue, Muttaqha Rabe Darma, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, said the Karasana project is being developed under a PPP arrangement. Consequently, private investors provide financing alongside the government and expect commercial returns.
“You talk about Karasana. In the Karasana housing units, what we are doing is on a PPP basis. Private investors are coming to partner with the government and build those houses there. So that’s why some of them are on the high side,” he said.
Commercial pressures clash with social housing mandates
The minister’s explanation highlights the core challenge facing the government’s flagship housing programme: balancing the commercial realities of private-sector participation with the imperative to deliver affordable homes to low- and middle-income Nigerians.
Housing experts have long argued that while PPPs are critical to mobilising capital for large-scale housing delivery, projects financed through such arrangements often struggle to achieve the affordability required to significantly reduce Nigeria’s housing deficit without additional government subsidies or innovative mortgage financing.
However, Darma stressed that not all federal housing projects follow the commercial PPP model.
According to the minister, homes developed under the Federal Housing Authority’s social housing initiatives are priced differently because they are designed specifically for lower-income earners.
“The ones we are doing for social housing, if you go to the Federal Housing Authority, you will not see houses costing that much,” he said.
Government targets low-income earners across 774 councils
Darma added that the government plans to deliver social housing projects across the country’s 774 local government areas, targeting civil servants and workers on lower salary grades.
“The social housing programme is for real people who are even below Level 12 in state governments,” the minister explained.
He also noted that location remains a major factor influencing housing costs, pointing out that major urban centres such as Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Kano naturally command higher development costs and land values.
“If you are talking about Abuja, of course Abuja is an expensive place. If you are talking about Lagos, Lagos is also an expensive place. Most people put in their money to make profit,” the minister said.
Regulatory reforms needed for built environment
Beyond immediate affordability, the minister stated that the government is working on broader structural reforms within Nigeria’s property market. He described the built environment as one of the country’s least regulated sectors despite its immense economic potential.
“If you look at the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, it’s very well regulated. If you look at banking and finance, it’s well regulated. Telecoms are well regulated. But the built environment is largely unregulated,” he said.
According to him, weak regulation has exposed many home buyers to fraudulent housing transactions, with buyers paying developers for properties that are never delivered and subsequently spending years in court seeking redress.
“We are trying to regulate the industry and make sure that it is good for the developers, for the homeowners and for people who are seeking to own homes,” Darma added.
He explained that the ministry is developing new regulations, including reforms around mortgage financing, to improve consumer protection and render housing delivery more transparent.
Proliferation of informal settlements highlights mass housing urgency
The minister’s comments underscore the policy dilemma confronting the Federal Government. While PPPs enable faster housing delivery by leveraging private capital, they tend to produce homes priced at market rates. This limits access for workers whose incomes remain well below the levels required to qualify for commercial mortgages or raise initial equity contributions.
The affordability debate also ties into broader concerns regarding Abuja’s rapid urban expansion and the proliferation of informal settlements, which analysts say underscore the urgent need for large-scale social housing.
Speaking recently on the capital city’s development, Tope Fasua, an economist and presidential adviser, expressed concern over the steady growth of shanty communities in Abuja, arguing that successive administrations had failed to sustain efforts to curb the trend.
“One thing that worries me about Abuja is that, over time, the ministers that have come have allowed the continuous growth of shanty towns. When Nasir El-Rufai was here, they tried to curb it, but later on they just went wild,” Fasua said.
He noted that a significant proportion of the capital’s residents now live in informal settlements, making the provision of mass housing an urgent social priority rather than merely an infrastructure programme.
“There needs to be something in the area of mass housing to relocate those people. When you are flying into Abuja, you see that some of them are almost building into the runway, and that is not good for the image of the city,” he said.
Fasua’s comments reinforce the argument that while PPP projects help expand the overall housing supply, government-backed social housing remains critical to addressing affordability challenges and halting the spread of informal settlements in the Federal Capital Territory.
