Operators have called on the Federal Government to leverage the housing sector as a means of revamping the country’s economy.
The real estate expert stated this at the just concluded Conference of Directors of Lands in the Federal and State Ministries, Departments, and Agencies with the theme “Improving Land Based Revenue of the Federating Units in Nigeria through Efficient and Effective Land Administration”, in Lagos State.
The Dean of the School of Environmental Technology and Coordinator, Institute for Land and Community Resilience, Professor Olurotimi Kemiki, said housing could be harnessed as a medium for economic investment aside from its primary social function, shelter.
He said, “Globally, the position of real estate investment in economic growth is recognised as a leading role in any given economy. The function played by real estate investment in job creation, household shelter provision, income distribution, and poverty alleviation is paramount.
According to Kemik, the World Bank’s suggestion about housing in different years considered housing as a macroeconomic development tool with a multiplier linkage through the economy, which brings about higher productivity at the national level through the reinvigoration of underutilised labour to boost productivity by utilising materials and financial resources.
In the same vein, the Director/Head of Department, Lands And Housing Development Department, Federal Ministry Of Housing & Urban Development, Felix Appah, noted that the ever-growing population of the world in general and Nigeria in particular, has naturally raised the demand for land.