INVESTIGATING THE PROBLEMS FACING HOUSING SECTOR IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The dream of each Nigerian citizen is to own his own house (Alhwish, 2010). However, economic Problems began to arise in Nigeria some years ago that have made this dream very difficult to achieve. These problems are complicated, so each specialist in the field of housing and construction holds a unique opinion regarding the main causes of the problems. The main obstacle that consumers face at present is the drastic increase in housing and construction prices in the mega cities of Nigeria. The present study focuses specifically on housing and construction in Abuja.
Nigeria’s main source of revenue is the production of oil. Now that Nigeria’s federal capital territory is receiving a great influx of residents, construction and housing has become the country’s major field in the country’s economy after the oil field Badran (2012).
The growth of this field has come with a sudden rise in the prices of construction and housing, especially in Abuja. This increase has been so problematic that “The prices of construction materials are the next crisis of the Nigerian real estate market” (Alhwish, 2010). The causes of these high prices have yet to be investigated, and they could be numerous and intertwined.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The demand for more construction of all types, coupled with a tight income supply has provided the construction industry with a big challenge to high cost of housing and building construction.This substantial increase has brought disinvestment in the construction industry and added investment risks. One of the main problems of the construction and housing industry may be attributed to the influence of the country’s main industry, oil. Badran (2012) observed, “Expectations of rising prices of building materials are in line with the rise of oil.” As the oil price increases it creates more problems, and these problems, in turn, increase the construction and housing prices even more. Therefore, the relationship between high oil prices and problems in the housing and construction industry is positive (directly proportional).
Other challenges include the high demand for development of public works projects, such as schools, hospitals, and infrastructure, the high demand for housing and construction by Nigerian citizens, The Low supply of housing (Nigeria economic survey, 2012).The manipulation and monopoly of suppliers of cement, steel and other construction materials, Corruption in monitoring government projects, The existence of a black market ,The high inflation of rate, Contractors who are taking projects beyond their capacity, the Speculative purchase and corruption in selling undeveloped lands.
