Adopting cooperative housing investment practice in Nigeria

Housing, a basic need of man, is becoming elusive to the common man in developing nations because of the scarcity of resources for manufacturing it. Housing is man’s place of permanent abode. It is an enclosure for the protection of oneself against inclement weather (scorching sun and rainfall). It is a protective element of lives and properties and a guide against external attacks. Housing or a house is a comfortable offspring breeding zone and a bundle of joy. As a basic need of man and the most expensive composite asset, everybody wants to have a home of his or her own, even as a status symbol. House is a common denominator in the life of man. In all tribes in Nigeria, a man is not a real or complete man if he does not have a house of his own. A man who lives in another man’s house in Nigeria is looked down upon!

This is why every mature man looks forward to the day he will have his own house. In the past, houses were made up of locally sourced building materials of the earth (laterite or mud or mastic soil) as walling materials, tree stems for roof structure and raffia palm leaves as roof cover. Toilet, bath and kitchen were not within the building. In most cases, a makeshift structure serves as a kitchen and bathing area while the toilet is the nearest bush to the house. In the early 1950s and up till the late 1960s, the rich Nigerians adopted moulded bricks as walling materials and cement-sand (mortar) mixed with water in the ratio 1:6 as binding agent of the bricks, sawn planks as roof members (structure) and galvanised sheets as roof cover.

Research on contemporary housing in Nigeria has shown that Nigerians prospective house builders waste a stupendous amount of time and money building their houses. Most developers that are supposed to spend an average of three months to construct a bungalow spend upwards of fifteen years! This is either because they embarked on white elephant projects that their income cannot accommodate or they changed their mind on the construction during the construction process. Buildings that are not completed ‘on time’ have weak members and can collapse under slight pressure. There are many sites in which two neighbours, if they cooperate with each other, would have completed one building within one year and start earning benefits but failed to complete two buildings for lack of cooperation.

The benefits of cooperatives hinge on ‘team-work’. In the South-West of Nigeria, in the olden days, the cooperative method of construction is known as “owe bibe” or “aro gbigba.” While “owe bibe” is a social exercise which people do as volunteers, “aro gbigba” is a cooperative exercise in which a beneficiary must serve others. This means that every member of a community is involved in the cooperative construction of an individual community member’s house. While the men are digging the earth to expose the laterite or mud underneath, mixing the walling materials with water and setting them to form shape, the women will be in charge of fetching water, carrying off-site materials like timber and raffia palm leaves to the site and cooking food for all the workers. Housing was seen as a social asset and a basic property for living.

The family ties were very strong and the community head saw the provision of housing for all qualified residents as a necessity of the whole community. The population of the community was manageable and everybody knew each other. Nobody sold land and buildings, as everybody had his own home. Modernisation and relocation of family members to areas where he or she is not a part of the family led to “tenancy at will.” People started living in other people’s properties after leaving their place of birth in search of better living conditions or the “golden fleece.” Rents were not usually collected as everybody is his brothers and sisters’ keeper.

Houses are now investment instruments in that people are building purposely to rent out to others and collect rent periodically. Not everybody finds it easy to buy their own properties because of the huge one-off fund (lump sum) involved. This is why there is a need to advocate for cooperative homes procurement practice. Cooperative homes involve the purchase or construction of a property by more than one person belonging to a housing cooperative and deriving income (rent), which will be shared by the investors (co-operators) according to the ratio of their investments, or in which one person will occupy the house and continue to contribute for the acquisition of property for the other co-operators.

It is a principle that works on the maxim, “time and tide wait for nobody.” If five people (co-operators) can contribute money together and buy a property now, it is better than individual non-co-operators saving for years to buy individual properties. More than one person who bought a property today will start deriving income and capital gain as soon as they take possession of the property. To become a housing co-operator, there is a need to gather like minds and people who are known to you and who are earning regular incomes. A cooperative name must be formed and registered with the Ministry of Cooperative in the state in which the cooperative housing will be located. Each co-operator will contribute a regular and fixed amount for the purchase or construction of a house. Harper Square Cooperative is the owner of multi-storey residential buildings at 4850 South Lake Park Avenue, Chicago Illinois 60615. Harper Square Cooperative started with one 25 storey building in 1970. Now it has two towers (north and south) and a terraced building with over 400 apartments.

A member can occupy a cooperative house while still contributing for the purchase or construction of the houses of other members, or the house can be rented out and investment continues until the houses can go round all the co-operators. This exercise will continue until all members have their own house. In some instances, cooperatives buy land to be shared among members and each member develops the land individually. The contributions of all co-operators serve as savings and can be inherited by their next-of-kin. Co-operators can also sell their shares in the cooperative and new members can be accommodated based on terms and conditions. This is an easy way of self-help of the people in getting themselves homes they can call theirs. A professional estate surveyor and valuer will be willing to serve as a consultant to any housing cooperative that requires the services of a cooperative housing consultant.

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