Why affordable housing remains out of reach in Nigeria

In Ajegunle, one of the most crowded working-class neighbourhoods in Nigeria’s capital, Lagos, market trader Oluwafunmi shares a single rented room with her husband and three children. Each year, the rent rises again. To keep up, the family cuts spending on food, delays school payments and worries constantly about whether they will have to move farther away from the markets where they earn a living. For many urban Nigerians, the housing crisis is no longer an abstract policy issue but a daily struggle over housing, transport and, for some, even survival.

Nigeria is one of the world’s fastest-urbanising countries. And as more Nigerians move to cities in search of jobs and opportunities, the gap between housing demand and supply continues to widen. Its urban population has grown from about 7 million people in 1960 to more than 128 million today, and nearly 70 % of Nigerians could live in cities by 2050. Particularly in Lagos, rapid growth has far outpaced the supply of affordable housing, with 60 % of urban residents living in informal settlements.

The shortage of affordable homes is tied to weak land governance and limited housing finance. Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development estimates the country faces a housing deficit of about 15 million units. At the same time, more than 90 % of land remains unregistered. For ordinary residents, this means years of uncertainty, informal arrangements and limited protection from eviction.

The hidden cost of urban growth

These pressures shape everyday urban life. Longer commutes from cheaper peripheral areas mean more hours spent in traffic and less time with family. Rising rents force many households to share small apartments with relatives or other tenants. Women are particularly disadvantaged: only about 11 % of women own or co-own housing, compared with more than 40 % of men.

Without formal land titles, landowners also struggle to access credit or invest in better housing. Housing finance remains out of reach for most households. Mortgage lending accounts for less than one percent of GDP, while interest rates often exceed 20 %. As a result, home ownership is unrealistic for many salaried workers, traders and informal workers. Families instead build gradually through personal savings or informal borrowing schemes, while millions continue renting overcrowded rooms in expanding city outskirts.

In an interview with The Guardian in Nigeria, the urban development scholar Taibat Lawanson argues that housing reform must connect land policy, infrastructure and social amenities. The federal government’s Renewed Hope Cities and Estates programme aims to expand housing through public-private partnerships. Yet for families like Oluwafunmi’s, the real measure of reform is simple: whether they can afford to remain in the city without sacrificing basic needs. Ultimately, theirs and many other people’s experiences show that affordable housing is not only about construction targets or mortgage systems. It is about staying close to work, keeping children in school and remaining part of the city whose growth they help sustain.

Sarafadeen Olalekan Oyeleke is a professional amputee football player, coach, writer and disability sports educator based in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. 
rhassmako@googlemail.com