The Federal Government of Nigeria is working on a policy to reduce the share of income spend on rent, with the housing minister saying employees should no longer have to commit 40 to 60 percent of their salaries to housing.
Muttaqha Rabe Darma, minister of Housing and Urban Development, disclosed this in Abuja, linking the housing burden to the government’s broader efforts to address corruption, arguing that financial pressure on workers could encourage some to seek alternative sources of income.
He said workers who spend a large portion of their legitimate earnings on rent are left with insufficient income to meet other essential needs, including food, children’s education and healthcare.
‘One important dimension is that people with families, if they tend to spend their own income, their own legitimate income on rent, then they will have to source other means of getting some money to do other things to take care of their families, their schooling, and the rest. And that is an impetus to corruption,’ Darma said.
‘We are going to ensure that in this country, workers do not spend 40 to 60 per cent of their income on rent. We are going to ensure that that is done,’ he added.
The minister said reducing the cost of housing is central to improving workers’ welfare while addressing Nigeria’s housing deficit.
According to Darma, about 110 million Nigerians are currently unhoused, while the country requires about 16 million additional housing units to bridge the housing gap.
FG targets abandoned housing units
As part of efforts to expand access to affordable housing, the ministry has identified nearly 250,000 abandoned housing units across the country, some of which date back to the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Darma said the ministry is engaging state governors on taking over the abandoned estates, renovating them and allocating the completed units to civil servants as affordable housing.
‘If state governments could take over the 250,000 units within the next few months and allocate them to civil servants, it would represent significant progress,’ he said.