Estate surveyors urge FG to boost affordable housing to curb rising rents
The President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), ESV Bature Ali Muhammad, has called on the Federal Government to increase the supply of affordable
The President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), ESV Bature Ali Muhammad, has called on the Federal Government to increase the supply of affordable housing to address the persistent rise in rents across the country.
He made the appeal during a press conference ahead of the institute’s 2026 International Valuation Day in Abuja, noting that while the body cannot enforce rent control on landlords, expanding access to affordable housing would help stabilise the market.
Ali Muhammad explained that the annual event, observed on May 5, serves as a strategic advocacy platform to promote awareness of valuation practices, emphasise their role in economic development, and urge policymakers in both public and private sectors to recognise the importance of valuation in decision-making.
"As a critical stakeholder and key driver of Nigerias economic development, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers is using this opportunity to remind the government, policy makers, government agencies, institutions, the organized private sector, and other stakeholders in the Nigerian project that Valuation is a critical process in unlocking Nigerias vast resources, vast economic potentials, wealth, and in building economic prosperity.
"That makes Estate Surveyors and Valuers critical partners to government in the current tax reform regime, and this tells me that without the role and influence of Estate Surveyors and Valuers within the Nigerian economic development context, it would be very difficult for the nation to advance in economic development".
The President emphasized that the enabling law for the practice of the profession, the Estate Surveyors & Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria Decree No. 24 of 1975, now CAP E13 LFN 2007 recognizes the practice of Valuation as the sole prerogative of Estate Surveyors and Valuers. Let it also be stated that Estate Surveyors and Valuers are the only professionals trained and equipped with the analytical skill of determining the current or projected worth of an asset.
