Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry(ACCI)  together with a non-governmental organisation, Shelter Aid Organisation, has begun  discussions with estate developers in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja , intended to reduce the high and outrageous cost of housing in the nation’s capital.

At a media briefing in Abuja, Dr. Johnson Anene, Vice President in charge of Commerce and Investment, at the ACCI, said making cost of houses affordable was one of the major activities lined up for the forthcoming 4th Abuja Investment Expo slated for July 30 to August 1st.

Anene who decried a situation where most of the completed houses built by estate developers in Abuja have remained unoccupied due to their exorbitant costs, assured that estate developers would be engaged in discussions to find a lasting solution, adding that the forum would address huge housing deficit in the Territory and Nigeria in general.

As part of the discussions, he advocated rent to own housing scheme and block chain as part of measures to address housing deficit in the Territory.

According to him, “We have involved many estate developers such as members of Real Estate Development of Nigeria, investors and other stakeholders.

“If you move around in Abuja, you will see so many houses that have been completed over the years and people are not occupying them.

“We want to use this forum to persuade real estate developers to off-load some of these houses.  They are coming with their sales promotion arrangement.

“We are introducing the rent to own housing scheme, a situation that a tenant pays rent and occupies the house and he continues to pay the rent until he has liquidated the total cost of the house.

“This is against the practice of paying rents forever. We know that all these much-talked about affordable houses are not affordable for middle-class individuals.

“There is also new scheme we are introducing. It is called block chain in the housing sector. It is mainly for investment purposes.  It is like crowd-funding. It will help a lot of people to buy properties.”

Anene, who is also the Managing Director of Shelter Aid Organization, revealed that over 200 exhibitors, foreign and local investors are expected during the three-day event.

As part of the activities lined up for the Investment Expo, Anene said Nigerian artisans and those in the informal sector would be trained on the global best practices to enhance their skills and increase income for better service delivery.

Also speaking, the Director General of ACCI, Mrs. Tonia Shoyele, pointed out with dismay that housing sector in the Federal Capital Territory has become moribund.

Shoyele expressed optimism that with the forthcoming Abuja Investment Expo the sector would be resuscitated and repositioned for efficient service delivery.