Stakeholders in the built sector have stated that Nigeria needs at least 550,000 new homes every year for the next decade to tackle housing challenges in the country.
These stakeholders spoke recently in Lagos during the 2026 Professional Development Workshop organised by the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria.
Presenting a paper titled ‘Overview of urban property market’, the Founder and Senior Partner at Samson Agbato Consulting, Samson Agbato, stressed that the purchase of land in anticipation of future value increases rather than immediate use is a powerful and structurally significant value determinant in Nigerian urban markets.
“Nigeria needs at least 550,000 new homes annually for the next ten years. This combination of demographic growth, infrastructure expansion, and investor confidence has made speculative land banking a dominant investment strategy in all three major markets,” Agbato said.
According to Agbato, speculative activity is particularly concentrated in emerging corridors, where infrastructure is planned but not yet delivered.
“Ibeju-Lekki exemplifies this dynamic, the area hosts the Dangote Refinery, the Lekki Deep Seaport, and the proposed Lekki International Airport.
Land purchased a decade ago at agricultural prices has been appreciated by multiples, rewarding investors who correctly anticipated the infrastructure trajectory,” Agbato said.
He warned that speculation also creates social costs, adding that it drives up land prices beyond the reach of end-users and developers, “stalls development of held land, and concentrates wealth from publicly funded infrastructure investment in private hands without corresponding tax capture by the state”.
Agbato blamed the removal of the fuel subsidy as the major cause of the surge in building materials.
“Since the removal of the fuel subsidy during President Bola Tinubu’s May 2023 inauguration speech, Nigeria has seen a rise in fuel prices. This surge has escalated transportation and construction costs, driving up the price of building materials. Alongside rising inflation at 33 per cent and an increased Monetary Policy Rate, these factors have made housing less affordable. The Central Bank of Nigeria has maintained a tight monetary policy stance, with the benchmark rate at 27.5 per cent as of June 2025, directly impacting mortgage rates, which typically range from 20 to 30 per cent annually. At those interest rates, conventional mortgage finance is inaccessible for the vast majority of Nigerians, compressing the pool of effective demand and forcing buyers into cash-based transactions,” he stated.
Earlier in his welcome address, the National President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Dr Ogbonna Chime, said that with the event themed ‘Mastering Urban Property Market Dynamics’, there is no gainsaying the fact that the importance and relevance of urban planning will be emphasised ‘as a precursor to the dynamics and indices of property values and other market forces’.
Chime added that the structure of urban centres, usually determined by urban planners, sets the pace for urban physical development with appropriate and adequate infrastructure, “thereby creating relative and competitive market variables which help in maintaining balanced land uses and also ensure use compatibility.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of ATOPCON, Lagos State Branch, Bello Akinwale, said the workshop is not just another gathering but a platform for learning, reflection, and strategic engagement in a rapidly urbanising environment like Nigeria.
He stressed that the role of town planning consultants is more critical in this matter.
“We are at the forefront of shaping sustainable, functional, and resilient communities,” he said.
