The Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN) has called for reforms to Lagos State’s building approval regime days after a DevReporting’s special report revealed how government low-cost housing schemes remain unaffordable for most residents despite billions of naira in public investment. In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Festus Adebayo, HDAN expressed concern over reports that Lagos generated about ₦80 billion from building approvals in 2025, arguing that excessive regulatory costs ultimately increase the price of housing because developers pass the burden on to homebuyers and tenants. The call represents one of the first major public policy responses linked to…
Author: Samson Ademola
Samson Ademola
Samson Ademola is Associate Editor and Programme Manager at DevReporting. A media and development practitioner with over a decade of experience, he has reported for United Press International and The Nation, among others. He previously led multi-donor media projects at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and is Founder of MediaEdge Innovations Nigeria, a communication, research and impact measurement platform.
When Lagos introduced mass housing under former Governor Lateef Jakande in the ’80s, civil servants, factory workers and low-income earners could buy homes through instalment payments that stretched over 30 years. Four decades later, findings by DevReporting show that many of Lagos’ ‘low-cost’ homes now cost between ₦5 million and ₦25 million, with repayment conditions that exclude 70 per cent of the city’s working population, who earn below ₦100,000. Only 7 per cent (1,400,000) of Lagos residents earn above ₦200,000. An analysis of government procurement records from 2020-2025, housing prices, mortgage requirements, labour income data and interviews with allocatees, reveal…