The revised National Housing Policy, which is expected to provide an appropriate framework for the revitalisation, regulation and management of housing and urban development, will become operational next year.

The document, which was prepared by a committee chaired by the pioneer Managing Director, Shelter Afrique, Mr. Fortune Ebie, and submitted to the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development on October 10, 2011, is currently undergoing validation by stakeholders from the 36 states.

The Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Ama Pepple, gave the hint that the document would become operational next year during a workshop to validate the revise housing policy.

She said that once the draft policy was adopted by the National Council on Housing and Urban Development on Thursday, it would be presented to the Federal Executive Council for approval.

The minister said the need to revise the housing policy became imperative following several enquiries and consultations, adding that since 2005, there had been no approved national policy for ensuring coordinated actions at all levels of government.

This, she noted, would have optimised the contributions of the housing and urban development sector to national development.

Given the need to ameliorate the situation, Pepple said a 24-member committee on the review of the draft national housing and urban development policies had been constituted.

The  new policy, she pointed out, would “pass the acid test of inclusiveness in design and comprehensiveness in detail.”

She added that the revised policy had been aligned with the new direction of the Federal Government within the framework of the transformation agenda, Financial System Strategy 2020 and other global initiatives such as the Millennium Development  Goals.

Source: Punch/ Ifeanyi Onuba