UN Official to Nigeria: Impose Vacant Home Tax, Tackle Extreme Housing Shortage

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 03:23 pm

Leilana Fartha, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Adequate Housing, on Monday urged the federal government to impose vacant home taxes with a view to addressing housing challenges in the country.

Ms Fartha at a news conference in Abuja expressed concern over the human rights crisis presented by poor living conditions in Nigeria’s informal settlements.

According to her, the informal settlements house about 69 per cent of the urban population.

She said: “Most residents in Nigeria’s ballooning informal settlements live without access to even the most basic services, like running water.

“And they lack any security of tenure, forcing them to live in constant fear of being evicted.

“My 10 days fact findings visit to Nigeria has presented an economic inequality in the country, which has reached extreme level and is playing itself out clearly in the housing sector.