PAN- African housing development financier Shelter Afrique, through its research and policy formulation arm, Centre of Excellence , has launched a ‘Housing Affordability Calculator,’ which will help the company address issues of housing affordability to improve viability of affordable housing projects in Nigeria and other African countries.
“Thus, the housing affordability calculator is vital for Shelter Afrique in evaluating housing project proposals submitted, with respect to whether the units proposed are likely to be affordable to a low-income target market in that location,” according to Shelter Afrique’s Head of Policy, Research and Partnerships, Dr. Muhammad Gambo.
The calculator requires the user to input four data points: household’s monthly income; distance from the city centre; country of residence; and the local currency or US Dollar. The calculator then applies background data and assumptions based on the prevailing mortgage terms in individual country, percentage of monthly household income spent on transport based on distance of house from city centre, and percentage of monthly household income spent on transport and housing for each income band.