AHCN calls for revitalisation of state housing corporations

THE Association of Housing Corporations of Nigeria (AHCN) has called for the revitalisation of state housing corporations to address the country’s housing deficit, following an assessment which found that 18 states recorded no housing-unit activity through their corporations during the period under review.

The association’s President  Eno Obongha, an estate surveyor and valuer, said the 2025 assessment showed that only 17 states had ongoing or completed housing projects under their state housing corporations during the preceding year, highlighting the need for state governments to strengthen public housing institutions and integrate them into their housing delivery strategies.

AHCN  boss noted that state housing corporations, which were established to facilitate public housing delivery, provide serviced land and develop residential estates, were operating below their potential in many parts of the country.

According to him, inadequate funding, limited access to affordable long-term financing, land-related challenges, outdated laws, insufficient working capital and weak revenue-generation mechanisms have constrained the performance of many of the institutions.

He also observed that housing corporations in some states had become disconnected from mainstream government housing strategies, while others, including those in Bauchi, Taraba and Nasarawa states, had been merged with their respective ministries.

The association’s president said addressing these institutional challenges would be critical to improving housing delivery and making progress towards closing Nigeria’s housing gap.

On the country’s housing situation,the AHCN  boss cited figures from the National Housing Data Centre established by the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, which put Nigeria’s housing deficit at 14.925 million units and the number of structurally defective or substandard homes at 15.2 million as of 2025.

He said the figures underscored the need for reliable housing data to guide policy formulation, housing finance, land allocation and actual housing delivery.

He acknowledged the collaboration among the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the National Bureau of Statistics, the National Population Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Housing Authority, Family Homes Funds, the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria and other stakeholders in developing the national housing data initiative.

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He said the initiative represented an important step towards addressing longstanding gaps in housing statistics, noting that the country had relied on estimated figures for years.

However, he stressed that the availability of reliable data must translate into practical policies and increased housing production.

The association  boss said the National Housing Data Centre should provide the foundation for evidence-based decisions that would improve the planning, financing and delivery of homes across the country.

He described state housing corporations as an underutilised institutional resource that could play a significant role in addressing the housing deficit if adequately funded and equipped.

He noted that the institutions had, over the years, provided housing estates, serviced plots, housing schemes and the institutional capacity needed to support public housing programmes.

However, their ability to deliver at scale has been undermined by financial and operational constraints, according to the association.

He called for measures to improve their access to long-term financing, resolve land-related problems, review outdated legal frameworks and strengthen their revenue-generation capacity.

He also emphasised the need for state governments to reposition housing corporations as central components of their housing and urban development policies.

The AHCN 2025 assessment identified Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Delta, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Osun, Plateau, Rivers and Taraba as states with no reported housing-unit activity under their respective housing corporations during the period reviewed.

The association, however, clarified that the findings should not be interpreted to mean that the affected states had never developed housing projects.

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